











I> 
























'+J. V* 






X* ^ 




















,v * 







"bo* 
















,^-' 






K o5 ^ 







'* " 









tf 



OCT 


















' 





































V I 8 M 



$> '**. 



A 

NEW ELUCIDATION 



THE PRINCIPLES OF SPEECH 

AND 

ELOCUTION ; 

A FULL THEORETICAL DEVELOPMENT, 

WITH NUMEROUS 

PRACTICAL EXERCISES, 

FOR THE 

CORRECTION OF IMPERFECT, OR THE RELIEF OF IMPEDED UTTERANCE, 

AND FOR THE 

GENERAL IMPROVEMENT OF READING AND SPEAKING; 

THE WHOLE FORMINli 

A COMPLETE DIRECTORY FOR ARTICULATION, 

AND 

EXPRESSIVE, ORAL DELIVERY. 



BY ALEXANDER MELVILLE^ BELL^ 

PROFESSOR OF ELOCUTION. &c. 




EDINBURGH : 

PRINTED FOR THE AUTHOR 1 



W. P. KENNEDY, ST ANDREW STREET ; 

GLASGOW : D. BRYCE ; ABERDEEN : G. DAVIDSON ; 

LONDON : HAMILTON, ADAM3, AND CO. ; 

DUBLIN : J. M'GLASHAN. 

MDCCCXLIX. 






EDINBURGH: PRINTED BY THORNTON & COLLIE, 
19 ST DAVID STREET. 



PREFACE 



The following Work was undertaken almost from necessity. In his professional 
practice, the Author daily felt the want of collected material to exemplify 
principles, and to furnish pupils with the means of private exercise upon them. 
When a defective articulation was to be corrected, a dialectic vowel-habit 
anglicised, a cold and inexpressive, a monotonous or an extravagant delivery, to 
be naturalized, it was by no means enough to point out the nature of the 
error, and exemplify the mode of utterance to be substituted : habit was to be 
overcome, and a new habit was to be cultivated to supplant the old. Per- 
manent improvement could only be effected by continuous practice, for which 
sufficient material could not be obtained without more labour than pupils can 
generally bestow. Written exercises were necessarily brief, and too much was 
left to private industry in collecting the means of improvement. Principles, 
orally imparted, were, of necessity, too briefly explained in the very short 
course to which Elocutionary instruction is generally limited ; and the student's 
memory could not be expected to retain them fully and with practicable cor- 
rectness. It became, therefore, necessary that a text-book of Principles and 
Exercises should be in his hand. 

In the preparation of this Work, the Author has endeavoured to write — not 
merely for the use of pupils, to whom a defective description in the book may 
be orally supplemented in the class-room, but — for those to whom such addi- 
tional instruction is not, and can not be, available. How far he has succeeded 
in this, remains to be proved. He has studied to preserve the utmost simpli- 
city of arrangemeut, and to avoid overloading principles by unnecessary rules. 
He has not followed in the steps of any preceding writer, either as to his 
Theory, or his plan of developing it ; but he has observed Nature for himself, 
and recorded his observations after his own fashion. The science of Elocu- 
tion seemed to him to want an A B C, and he has endeavoured to supply the 
deficiency. 

Directions as to the mode of using the Book are not necessary in this place, 
as these may be fully gathered from the body of the Work ; but a few general 
observations on this subject may not be superfluous. 

The theories of Respiration, of Voice, of Vowel Formation, and of Inflexion, 
should first be studied ; and the Exercises appended to each should be prac- 
tically mastered. Any defect of Vowel Quality, or of Articulation must next 
be perfected by special exercises on the defective elements. Then, the theory 
of Articulation should be read, and the exercises on Articulation, Quantity, 
Accent, Rhythm, and Verbal Groupings, should be practised with the careful 



iv PREFACE. 

application of the principles of Respiration, Inflexion, &c. Next, the principle? 
of Modulation, and the notations of Force, Time, and Expression, should bu 
made familiar, and the marked illustrations read with as much accuracy as 
possible. After this, there cannot be too much practice in Expressive Reading 
from the works of our poets and prose-writers, or from books of well-selected 
extracts. The custom of marking the leading expressions on the principles of 
notation given, will be found most useful in accustoming the mind, not only t<* 
read the words — the outward form of language — but to discern the thoughts 
and feelings which they embody — the spirit and essence of language. 

To Stammerers, the Observations and Exercises on the Articulations, (Dic- 
tionary of English Sounds, Section second,) will be found of much practical 
value ; though the Author does not assert that they contain his complete system 
for the eradication of this distressing affection. No two cases of Stammering 
are precisely alike, and each case requires some peculiar modification in the 
plan of treatment. 

To have fully detailed his own modus operandi, in removing Vocal Impedi- 
ments, would have been foreign to the proper objects of this Work, as well as 
professionally impolitic : the Author has, however, unreservedly communicated 
the principles on which the Cure of Stammering must in all cases be conducted. 

Early attention to impediments and defects of speech would, in almost every 
case, be successful in checking their formation, if Parents, Governesses, Tutors, 
and Teachers, were competent to direct the articulation aright. The necessary 
knowledge of the Principles of Speech, with many assistant exercises adapted 
for the youngest pupils, the following pages supply. A little pains taken to 
direct the first articulative efforts of children, would secure to them dis- 
tinctness and fluency of utterance, and would render almost unknown that 
14 cruel malady" Stammering, which 

44 Not only preys convulsive on the frame, — 
In its harsh struggle for conceived sound — 
But agitates the nerves, infects the brain, 
And spreads, like guilt, a terror o'er the mind." 

This Work has had the advantage of a critical perusal, in proof, from the 
Author's Father, Mr Alexander Bell, Professor of Elocution, London, and from 
his Brother, Mr D. C. Bell, Professor of Elocution, Dublin ; to both of whom it 
is indebted for many judicious emendations and suggestions. The Book will, 
it is hoped, be found as free from errors as could be expected in a work of 
such various and often difficult typography. 

Edinburgh, 

lQlh November, 1849. 



CONTENTS. 



PART FIRST. 



The Elements of Speech, page 9 

Their classification, - - - - - .10 

" representation, - - - - - 12 

Voice, ... -- - -.13 

The formation of voice, - - - - - 14 

Exercises to purify and strengthen the voice, - - - 15 

Peculiarities of Tone, - - - - - 17 

Respiration, ------- 19 

Principles of healthful vocal respiration, ... 20 

Exercise to strengthen the respiration, - - 21 

Vowels, - - - - - - - 22 

Principles of vowel formation, ----- 23 

Three organic classes of vowels, - 24 

First Vowel Position, ...... 24 

Second, Third, and Fourth Vowel Positions, - - - 25 

Fifth and Sixth Vowel Positions, 26 

Seventh and Eighth Vowel Positions, ... 27 

General Vowel Scheme, ----- 28 

The terms, " Long, Short, Open, Shut," &c, as applied to Vowels, 29 

Table of English Vowels, - - - - - 31 

Numerical Notation of Vowel-Sounds, - 32 

Marked Illustrations, - - . - - 32 

The Aspiration H, -.._._ gg 

French Semi-Nasal Vowels, - - - - - 37 

Comparison of English and French Nasal Elements, - - 38 

Articulations, -----. 39 

Their explosive quality. - - - - 40 

Produced by distension of the Pharynx, - . - 41 

Deficiency of Pharyngeal Power — how manifested, - - 42 

First mode of Articulative Action* - - - - 43 

Breath and Voice Varieties, - - - - - 44 

Nasal Variety, -.--.- 46 

Second mode of Articulative Action, 48 

Third, 51 

General Scheme of Articulations, - - - 53 

Table of English Articulations, - - - - 54 
Extract marked to illustrate the Breath and Voice Distinction — 

" Great Effects from little Causes," - - - - 55 

Elementary Instruction in Speech .... 57 

Teaching " the Letters," ----- 58 

Sounds should first be taught, .... 59 

Orthographic reformation, - - 60 



vi CONTENTS. 

Quantity, - - - - . - page 61 

Of Vowels — three primary degrees, - - - - 61 

Of Articulations — Hve primary degrees, ... 62 

Table of Elementary Quantities, .... 63 

The Elements of Syllables, ..... 64 

Table of Initial Articulate Combinations, 66 

Table of Terminational Syllabic Combinations of Breath Articulations, 67 

" " " '« 4 g Voice 4C 68 

« « « « Mixed «« 69 

Quantitative Influence of Unaccented on Accented Syllables, - 70 

Vowel Combinations. ------ 73 

PART SECOND. 
DICTIONARY OF ENGLISH SOUNDS. 

Section First. — Vowels, 78 
First Vowel — Observations and Exercises, (including Directions for 

the correction of dialectic and other peculiarities,) 79 

Second " " " " " " " 83 

Third " *' " " " " « 86 

Fourth " « " " * (t « 89 

Fifth " " " " " " " 95 

Sixth " " m « «« « " 98 

Seventh " " " " " " " 10ft 

Diphthong 7-1, " " " " * " 102 

a 7_i3 y a « « « « « 104 

Eighth Vowel, « " " " " " 106 

Ninth « " " '< " " " 109 

Tenth " " " " H " " H3 

Diphthong 10-1, " " " " '« " 118 

Eleventh Vowel, " '< " " '* " 119 

Twelfth « " " " «' " " 121 

Thirteenth « " " " " " " 125 

The Aspirate— H, « « « « ■« " 127 

Section Second — Articulations, .... 130 

P — Observations and Exercises, (including Directions for the 

removal of Defects and Impediments of Articulation,) 132 

B, " " " " " " 136 

M « « « « '< " 138 

Wh, " " " " " " 142 

W ? « k « « « « 143 

p i< « << u « " 144 

y « (( « « « " 147 

Th(in), " " « " " " H9 

Th(is), " " " " " " 152 

S, « " « " " " 153 

£ u « « « « " 161 

R, « « " « " " 163 

L " " " " " " 167 

f£ « t< « " " « ]7l 



\ 



CONTENTS. vii 

D, Observations and Exercises, (including Directions for the 

removal of Defects and Impediments of Articulation,) page 176 

j^ << a << « « « 178 

Sh, " " " " " " 183 

Zh, " " " " tf V 1S6 

Y " " << " " «f 187 

K, '< " " " '-* " 188 

q « u « « « « 192 

Ng, " ? « " " " 194 
Articulative Exercises. 

Passages containing Double Articulations, - - - 196 

" * Difficult Combinations, - - - 197 

« « Alliterations and Difficult Sequences, - 197 

« " Miscellaneous Difficulties, - - - 200 

PART THIRD. 

The Powers of the Letters, ----- 203 

Illustrations of tbe fluctuating value of English letters, - 204 

Table of the Sounds of the Vowel Marks, - - - 205 

« " Silent Vowel Marks, - 208 

' « «' the Marks of the Vowel Sounds, - - 208 

" « the Sounds of the Articulation Marks, - - 209 

" « Silent Articulation Marks, - - - 211 

" " the Marks of the Articulations, - - - 211 

Notation of the Elements of Speech, ... - 212 

Phonotypes and Phonographs, - - - - 213 

Review of Mr Pitman's Phonographic Alphabet as a means of 

accurate notation, - - - - - 214 

Principles of a New Phonographic Scheme, - - 217 

Alphabet of Articulation Marks, - - - 218 

Articulate Combinations, - - - - 219 

Alphabet of Vowel Marks, .... 220 

Stenographic principle of Verbal Arrangement, - - 221 

Examples of Full, and of Steno-phonographic Notation, 22 1 

PART FOURTH. 

Accent, — ------- 222 

Accentual Change on Words of the same Orthography, - 223 

Examples of Secondarily Accented Words, - - - 224 

Table of Accents, - - - - - -227 

Emphatic Accentuation, ----- 228 

Rhythm, -------- 229 

1st Stage of Rhythmical Grouping, with Examples, - 231 

2d " " " «... 232 

3d « " « " 234 

4th " " " «... 236 

5th « " " « 238 

6th " " " « - 239 

7th " •< « " 2+1 



vni CONTENTS. 

Sth Stage of Rhythmical Grouping, with Examples, - page 244 

9th « « « « 246 

10th " « f< « 247 

Uth " « '< « 249 

12th «« « '< « - 251 

Emphasis— Effect of ou Grouping, - 253 

Emphatic Disjunctions, - . - - - "254 

PART FIFTH. 

Inflexion, -.„---- 257 

Over-estimate of by Modern Elocutionary Writers, - - 259 

Mechanism of the Simple Inflexions, - - - 261 

Notation " « ** " - - - - 262 

Illustrations of the Mechanism of the Inflexions as applied to 

Words of various Accentual Construction, - - 264 

Extent of the Inflexions, ----- 266 

Compound Inflexions, Circumflexes or Waves, - - 269 

Application of the Inflexions, - - - - - 271 

Review of Sentential Rules of Elocutionists, - 272 

First Part of a Compact Sentence, - - - - 273 

The Penultimate Member, - - - - 274 

Negative Sentences, - 275 

Concessive Sentences, - 276 

The First Part of an Antithesis, - - - 276 

Questions commencing with a Verb, - - - 276 

Repetition or Echo, - - - - - 277 

Loose Sentences, ----- 278 

Questions asked by Pronouns or Adverbs, - - 278 

Final Pause or Period, - - - 280 

Parenthesis, - - - - - -281 

Elliptical Member, - - - - - 281 

Verb Questions of Two Parts connected by or, - - 282 

Series, 282 

Numeral Inflexions, ----- 283 

Exercises for the Acquirement op Vocal Flexibility, - 285 

Modulation, -- - - - - -287 

Modulative Notation, - - - • - 288 

Modulative and Emphatic Parsing, - - - 289 
Modulation and Inflexion of Principal and Subordinate Clauses, 290 
Marked Illustrations; 

Hamlet's Soliloquy on Death, - 291 

The Power of Habit, ----- 292 

Close of a Good Life, - 292 

Miscellaneous Short Passages, - - - - 293 

Force, Time, and Expression, .... 296 

Notation of their leading varieties, - 296 

Recapitulative Table of the Marks Employed in the Notation of 

Inflexion, Modulation, Force, Time, and Expression, - 299 

Illustrative Passages Markf.d for Practice, - 300—311 



THE 



PRINCIPLES OF SPEECH 
AND ELOCUTION. 



PART FIRST. 



THE ELEMENTS OF SPEECH. 

Speech consists of variously modified emissions of breath. 

The first modifying agent is the glottis; in passing through 
which, the breath acquires a rustling, vibratory, or sonorous 
quality, in proportion to the degree of vocalizing approximation of 
the edges of the glottis. 

When the glottis and the mouth are perfectly open, the breath 
may be expelled, even forcibly, without audibility. When the 
glottal aperture is somewhat contracted, the passage of the breath 
is rendered faintly audible : this is the condition of the glottis 
in whispering a vowel, or in the softer utterance of the letter H. 
The glottis may be placed almost in the vocalizing position, and 
that husky voice is produced which is the natural expression of 
fear and of the dark passions ; and when the edges of the glottis are 
braced to the clearly vocalizing point, the breath acquires that 
beautiful sonorous quality which we call voice. 

The breath, glottally modified in either of these ways, may be 
farther modified in its passage through the mouth, by the varied 
shape and arrangement of the plastic organs of articulation, the 
soft palate, the tongue, and the lips. 

The varying shape of the mouth, with an uninterrupted central 
channel for the issue of the breath, gives vowel quality to the 
breath, whispered or vocalized ; and the close approximation, 
partial, or complete contact of its organs, gives articulative effect 
to the same voiceless or sonorous current of breath. 

In the common analysis of speech, its elements have been divid- 
ed into two grand classes, called Vowels and Consonants. The 

B 



10 THE ELEMENTS OF SPEECH. 

former class is said to contain those elemental sounds which are 
capable of being uttered alone ; and the latter, those which are 
incapable of being pronounced without the aid of a vowel. This 
is incorrect ; for, not only the vowels, but all the " consonants," 
may be perfectly sounded alone. The terms Vowel and Consonant, 
therefore, thus understood, do not draw a clear line of distinction 
between the two natural classes of elements, intended to be 
designated ; and either some other nomenclature must be adopted, 
or a definition of these terms received, which may effect the 
object of the classification. 

To remedy the inconvenience of definitions not generally ap- 
plicable, numerous subdivisions have been made, and terms have 
been multiplied ; and, as might be expected from so fundamental 
an error, writers are not agreed as to which class certain 
seemingly equivocal letters should belong. Y and W have been 
by some writers declared to be consonants ; by others, vowels ; 
by others, semi-consonants ; by others, both vowels and conson- 
ants. We shall be careful to make our definitions of the different 
classes into which we divide the elements as little liable to 
exception as possible. It will be of importance if we can establish 
a classification which may be generally admitted. 

Dr Rush, in his " Philosophy of the Human Voice," has pro- 
posed a mode of classification into " tonics," (vowels,) "sub- 
tonics," (articulations with voice,) and "atonies," (voiceless 
articulations.) But this does not show the grand leading and 
most important division of the elements, intended to be ex- 
pressed by the terms, Vowel and Consonant. It does not recognise 
the difference between a position and an action, which this acute 
author seems strangely to undervalue. 

We have shown that the ordinary definition of the term Vowel, 
would render that name equally applicable to all the elements of 
speech ; and that the term Consonant, as generally defined, is 
inapplicable to any one of them. 

Writers have subdivided consonants into mutes, semi-mutes, 
semi-vowels, demi-semi-voioels, liquids, sharp letters, flat letters, 
soft, hard, &c. ; but to most of the terms there has been no clear 
meaning attached, and in their application there has been no little 
inconsistency. The names flat and sharp, hard and soft, &c. have 
been applied by different persons to opposite classes of letters ; 
and, — so little have they been made to convey any idea to the 



THE ELEMENTS OF SPEECH. 11 

mind, — we have heard the two former terms explained by a public 
lecturer to be "just like sharps and flats in music," to which, 
except in name, they have not a shadow of relation. 

The most obvious difference among the elements of speech 
obtains between those sounds which pass freely through the open 
mouth, and those which are forced through hissing slits, or stopped 
by organic conjunction. The former may as well be called 
vowels as by any other name ; only let the term be correctly 
defined, and the mere name is of little consequence. Those 
utterances, then, which pass freely from the glottis through a 
certain open conformation of the vocal canal, — unaffected by any 
sound originating within the mouth, and independent on any 
.ippulsive action of the mouth, — let us call Vowels. All other 
elements of speech will be found to coincide in this, that their 
audible effect is either wholly produced, or very greatly influenced 
by the mouth ; and that an appulsive action of some part of the 
mouth is necessary to their formation. Let us call them by a 
term already in use, — Articulations.* 

The Articulations are, on obvious principles, divisible into 
subordinate classes. Some of them owe their audibility solely to 
the mouth, to the action of the breath against the organs of 
articulation. As these have no voice, they may be appropriately 
called Breath articulations. All others will fall under the category 
of Voice articulations. 

The nature of the articulative actions gives reason for sub- 
divisions of each of these classes. Those actions which alto- 
gether stop the flow of breath or voice may be called obstructive, 
or shut ; and those which do not, may be appropriately called 
continuous; the latter being subdivided into close and open. 

Thus, the letters B, D, G, are shut voice articulations, and P, 
T, K, shut breath articulations. F, Wh, Th, S, Sh, are conti- 
nuous breath articulations, and V, W, Th, Z, Zh, R, Y, L, M, 
N, NG, are continuous voice articulations. Of these last, the 
first 7 letters are close, and the remainder open. The reason for 
making a distinction among the continuous voice articulations is, 

* The word articulation has been sometimes applied to vowels, as well as 
consonants, but its limitation to the latter class of elements is not only conve- 
nient, but correct. The vowels are the materiel of speech, and the articulations 
are the joints or hinges by whose motion the vowels proceed from the month, 
and lake their shape and duration. 



12 THE ELEMENTS OF SPEECH. 

that L, M, N, NG, are as purely vocal as any vowel ; the stream 
of voice having a free channel, and suffering but little compression 
and consequent deterioration in its passage. Indeed, but for the 
distinct organic action necessary to each of these letters, they 
might be ranked among the vowels. 

Our alphabet gives us 26 letters ; — 5 vowel, and 21 articulation 
marks. Our language contains 13 voivel formations, and 24 
varieties of articulation, besides the mark of aspiration H. A 
perfect alphabet of English sounds would therefore contain not 
less than 38 distinguishable simple characters. But, on a 
principle which will be found explained in a subsequent chapter, 
this number might be obtained from little more than 12 radically 
distinct characters, — the remainder being produced from these 
by uniform changes, to represent their uniformity of difference. 

Not only is our alphabet deficient in the number of its charac- 
ters ; it is also redundant, and is burdened with letters which do 
not represent simple elements, but combinations. The inadequacy 
of the vowel marks to represent our vowel sounds is most manifest. 
We have no regular and consistent way of writing any one vowel. 
Single letters represent diphthongs, and the utmost confusion of 
diphthongal characters prevails in our ways of writing simple 
vowel sounds. The alphabet gives us no characters by which to 
represent six of our articulations — namely, Sh, Th(in), Th(is), 
Zh, Wh, NG ; and we are thus forced to the anomaly of 
using digraphs to represent simple sounds, while there are 
simple characters in the alphabet which represent double sounds : 
it gives us three letters for one articulation, namely, C, K, Q, 
(besides which we compound a fourth, Ch :) the letter C stands for 
both K and S : and the letters J and X, each represent a combi- 
nation of two actions ; the former letter being equivalent to d zh, 
and the latter, — doing quadruple duty, — representing k s, and also 
their vocal forms, g z. 

The great inconvenience of this faulty alphabet has been long 
felt ; and however easy it might be to propose a remedy, it would 
not be so easy to get the most advantageous plan adopted. We 
must content ourselves, in the meantime, with clearing away the 
difficulties that have arisen from the want of a correct and generally 
recognised principiation of our speech, and leave the reformation 
of our orthography to be worked by a more thorough acquaintance 
with its defects. But we fear that until some authoritative effort 



THE VOICE. 13 

be made, by appointed dictators, as in the Academies of France 
and Spain, any general improvement in the representation of 
our sounds will not be effected. We shall, however, have aided 
the work if we succeed in classifying those sounds according to 
their natural order ; and if our attempt to describe, popularly and 
untechnically, the formations of the elements of speech, happily 
prove successful, we shall have done something towards giving uni- 
formity to our national utterance. 

Before entering on an exposition of the vowel theory, it may be 
useful to premise some observations on voice — the materiel of 
the vowels. 

VOICE. 

The organ of Voice is placed beyond the reach of observation in 
the living subject, and, consequently, has seldom been seen in 
operation. Circumstances have, however, enabled some eminent 
observers to see enough of its modes of action to ascertain analogies 
between it and certain classes of musical instruments. It com- 
bines the qualities of wind and stringed instruments,- — sound 
being produced by means of a current of air ; and alterations of 
pitch being effected by elongation and contraction, with com- 
parative slackness or tension of the vocalizing surfaces. All other 
instruments of sound, however perfect in their kind, fall infinitely 
short of the compact perfection of this wonderful apparatus ; 
which, within such a tiny space as mocks the art of man, unites 
the various registers, and the swell, and thunder of the organ, — 
monarch of the choir, — with the plaintive flexibility and minute 
play of tone of the violin or Eolian harp. 

We shall endeavour to elucidate some important vocal prin- 
ciples, by reference to a simple little instrument, whose sonorous 
vibrations are, in many respects, analogous to those of the human 
lottis. This is the reed of the bagpipe drone. An experimental 
sonifier of this kind may be constructed from a common quill in 
the following manner. 

Remove from a new quill the feathered end, and the dry and 
tough matter within and at the other end of the quill, so as to 
leave only the brittle portion. Seal up one end of this tube with 
wax, and cut a tongue in the side of it, beginning the slit near to 
the wax, thus : 



1 » THE VOICE. 




Insert the sealed end, the tehole vibrating length of the tongue, within the mouth. 

With this instrument, the following principles may now be 
exemplified. 

If the slit, and consequently the tongue, be short, the sound 
will be shrill and strained ; and, if the tongue be gradually 
lengthened, the pitch of its note will become deeper and more 
mellow with every increase.* So, the glottis, in producing high 
tones, is contracted ; and in producing grave sounds, is elongated. 
This may be sufficiently made matter of sensation, by gradually 
running up the voice from its deepest to its highest notes ; and, 
more especially, by running down its compass, from the shrill 
falsetto to the lowest possible tones. There will be, in these 
experiments, a distinct consciousness of the gradual contraction 
and gradual enlargement of the glottal aperture. 

If the tongue of the reed or quill project too much, so as to 
create too open an aperture, the air will pass below the tongue 
without setting it in vibration ; and, consequently, no sound will 
be heard except that of the rushing of the air, more or less 
audible, according to the degree of openness of the aperture, and 
the force of the breath. This state of the reed is analogous to 
that of the glottis, in whispering. Every gradation of sound, 
from the softest breathing to the strongest sonorousness, may be 
produced either with the reed or by the glottis. 

If the tongue of the reed lie quite close to the sides of the 
aperture, so as completely to cover it, no sound or breath will 
issue ; and if, while the effort of breath is continued, the tongue 
should suddenly take the vibrating position, the sound will burst 
out with abrupt energy, proportioned to the force of the silent 
effort preceding it. This condition and action of the reed, are 
analogous to those of the glottis in many cases of stammering. 

To keep the reed in a position for vibrating, an aperture must 
be maintained ; and, to produce voice, the lips of the glottis must 
be in close approximation, without being absolutely in contact. 
Too much openness of the glottis, renders the tone breathy, 
husky, impurely vocal ; and too little openness, gives a strained, 
shrill, and inflexible character to the voice. It is important to 

* The vibrating length of the tongue may be altered by means of a piece of 
thread, — as shown in the cut. 




THE VOICE. 15 

all persons who labour under difficulties in speech, or in the 
management of their voices, to be perfectly familiar with the 
nature of the process by which voice is formed ; to make them- 
selves so by experiment ; to test the mechanism of analogous 
sounds ; and aim at the improvement of their own vocal powers, 
by applying the principles which they find to govern the analogous 
processes they examine. 

It will be observed, on experimenting with the reed or quill, 
that the sound does not begin by a gradual process from the 
rustling effect of breath to pure sonorousness, but with a quick 
explosiveness ; as if the tongue, on first feeling the pressure of 
the stream of air, did, for a moment, shut up the aperture, before 
its vibrations commenced ; or, rather, we should say, as if its 
first vibration occluded the aperture for an instant. So, in the 
production of glottal sound, there must be an energetic, explosive 
opening of the voice, by a momentary holding in of the breath 
before the vocal emission. This is a great beauty in vocalizing ; 
and a source of as much ease and power, as of grace. However 
soft and feeble the tone of voice, it should exhibit the same prin- 
ciple of opening fulness. Even in whispering, the action of the 
glottis must be the same. When the voice is otherwise commenced, 
so much breath is wasted before vocality is obtained, that a good 
clear voice can hardly be produced by the powerless expiration. 

This principle of vocalizing is prescribed by scientific singing- 
masters, as an exercise to purify and strengthen the vocal tones. 
Mons. Garcia, of Paris, in his lesson-books, dwells on the 
importance of this "coup de la glotte." But, to speakers, it is 
far more important than to singers. Yet, to what lesson-book in 
speech can the student turn to be directed in this matter ? 

The following modes of practice will soon enable any person to 
master this principle in speech. 

Inhale a full breath, and retain it for some seconds; then, with 
all possible force and abruptness, eject the vowel sounds, with 
open mouth, from the throat; avoiding, however, in the most 
forcible effort, any bending, or other action of the head or body. 
The following mark may be used to denote this explosion of the 
voice (> ). 

>>> >• > > >>>> 

E, A, Eh, Ah, I, Ow, Aw, Oi, 0, Oo. 
When this has been sufficiently practised, let the student enounce, 
in the same way, but with abated force, as many repetitions of 



It; THE ?OBOE. 

each vowel as ho can ctl'ect with one expiration ; taking care, that 
after each sound, the chest is held up, or the next vowel will pro- 
bably lose the explosive quality, The same mark, reduced, will 
represent this vocal action (>>>). 

>>> >>> >>> >v> >>> 

E. Ah. I, Aw, O, to 

After a little practice, facility and neatness in this formation of 
voice will be obtained ; and the principle may be applied to all 

INITIAL VOWELS. 

Imperfectly-formed voice requires a much greater expenditure 
of breath than pure clear tone. If the preceding theory have not 
made the reason of this obvious, the prolongation of vowels will 
prove the truth of the observation. The less clear the sound, the 
greater is the waste of breath ; the more sonorous the voice, tj^f ' 
more easy is its production, and the less exhausting its continuous 
exercise. This principle is of sufficient importance to demand 
at least a testing practice from the student. 

Expand the chest, so as fully to charge the lungs with air, and, 
after for a moment holding in the breath, sound the monophthong 
vowels, 



E, Eh, Ah, Aw, Oo, 
prolonging each, while the sound can be steadily maintained. 
We have marked this process by a straight line, thus ( — .) 
When the voice wavers, becomes feeble, and requires an effort of 
expiration to produce vibration, stop, and begin again. After 
practice, and the acquirement of art in managing the chest, &c. 
so as to maintain a steady, equable pressure on the lungs, the 
vowels should be continued purely for the space of from twenty- 
five to thirty seconds. 

Another very useful exercise, and one by which the action of 
the glottis will be distinctly felt, consists in again and again 
shutting off and recommencing the sound. We may be understood, 
when we say, that this is merely the preceding exercise, with the 
vowels clipped up in little pieces, instead of running out in one 
unbroken length. It may be thus represented (- - -). The 
voice must be perfectly stopped at every break, and each breath 
should last, at least, as long in this as in the preceding exercise. 

e, eh, ah, aw, oo. 



THE VOICE. 17 

When it can be done with neatness, this principle of finishing 
sound should be applied to all final vowels. 

When the voice is feeble, or the lungs apparently weak, the 
above four modes of practice will be of much benefit. To assist 
in the development of the chest and voice in children, the de- 
lighted urchins might be safely encouraged to such noisy bawling, 
at convenient time and place. A strong middle tone is the best 
for ordinary practice, but, to strengthen particular tones, the 
voice should range from low to high, and high to low, — running 
over its compass on one inflexion. When the ordinary pitch of 
the voice is -too high, the vowels may be practised from high to 
low, beginning softly, and increasing in strength of sound as the 
voice descends. To strengthen the higher tones, which is seldom 
an object of necessity or study among speakers, the voice may 
increase in energy as it ascends. In this way, the compass of 
the voice may be much extended, and a degree of mellowness 
and flexibility, seldom acquired without art, will be attained. 

Specific exercises on inflexions of the voice will be found in 
subsequent chapters. 

We have hitherto considered only the formation of voice. 
There are peculiarities of tone, arising from the way in which the 
voice is directed, — from the position of the soft palate, teeth, lips, &c. 
The soft palate, (velum pendulum palati) is a curtain depending 
from the back of the mouth, with a small tongue-like prolonga- 
tion, called the uvula. It performs many important functions in 
vocal modulation and articulation. It acts as a valve to cover 
the nasal apertures, and prevent the issue of breath or voice by 
them ; or, to open them for the free or partial passage of the 
vocal current. The contact of this organ with the back of the 
tongue is the formation of the English element NG, in which the 
voice passes freely and entirely through the nostrils ; its approx- 
imation to the tongue divides the vocal current into an oral and 
a nasal stream, and thus gives the peculiar character to the 
French elements en, in, on, un, and causes the 

" nasal twang, 
Heard at conventicle, where worthy men, 
Misled by custom, strain celestial themes 
Through the pressed nostril, spectacle bestrid." 

The soft palate is in the same way approximated to the tongue 

C 



18 THK VOICE. 

for the English articulations M and N ; in forming which, the 
voice escapes by the nose only, but reverberates in the mouth ; 
where it is shut in, by the lips for the former, and by the 
tongue and palate for the latter element. The action of the 
soft palate demands the attention of all who would speak with 
purity of voice, and propriety of articulation. 

Let the student place himself before a glass, — his back to the 
light, — and, opening his mouth, inhale breath strongly, but noise- 
lessly. If he do not, in this process, elevate the soft palate, and 
depress the tongue, so as to form a visible arch of nearly an inch 
in height and breadth, he will be the better of practice for that 
purpose. A little patient exercise will give him the requisite 
power. He must strive to retain the velum at the elevation he 
obtains, as long as possible, dwelling on the open vowels ah and 
aw, without allowing it to fall. He will distinctly see the position 
of this organ in sounding these vowels, and he may be able, by 
sensation and partial observation, to maintain it in the same 
position in sounding the closer vowels, e, eh, oh, oo, &c. By this 
sort of exercise, a nasal tone of voice will be purified, and that 
most disagreeable blemish of speech removed. 

A guttural tone of voice arises, in a great measure, from the 
too close approximation of the tongue and velum, by which the 
uvula is laid in the way of the vocal current ; frequently from 
enlarged glands, (tonsils ;) and from contraction of the arch of 
the fauces, from whatever cause arising. The nature of the 
peculiarity indicates the means of cure. The more the arch can 
be expanded, the less guttural vibration can there be. So far as 
faulty habit is the cause of the guttural tone, it will be susceptible 
of easy correction, by observation of the formation of the open 
vowels, and the practice of similar means to those recommended 
for the nasal tone. 

The quality of the voice is affected by the position of the teeth. 
All the vowels may be sounded with the teeth closed, and they 
may all be sounded with the teeth considerably separated ; but 
the tone of voice is very different in these cases. When the teeth 
are close, the vocal current strikes against them, and becomes 
deadened, muffled, and deprived of both purity and power. In the 
close vowels, e and oo especially, it is frequently still farther 
deteriorated in quality by a degree of vibration in the teeth. 

The teeth should never be closed in speech, but, on the con- 



THE VOICE. 10 

trary, should be kept as open as possible, to allow the voice to 
come freely out from the seat of its formation. 

The lips, too, influence the tone of the voice. The best 
remedial advice for any peculiarity arising from a faulty disposi- 
tion of the lips, is, never to use these organs in speech where their 
action is not indispensable. The most common faults, are pro- 
jection, and pursing of the lips ; keeping them in contact at the 
corners ; and making the oral aperture incline unequally to one 
side. By these ungraceful and deforming habits, the quality of 
the voice is variously affected. The lips should take the form of 
the range of the teeth, — but without constraint, — and move with 
the teeth, in a vertical direction only. Any great deviation from 
this rule, is inelegant, and injurious to the tone. 

Weakness of voice, we have thus seen, is owing to a faulty 
formation of voice, — to insufficient glottal vibration ; and pecu- 
liarities of tone arise generally from modifications of the channel 
through which the vocal current flows. Many of these are 
perfectly controllable by art : well directed practice never fails to 
produce a very considerable effect. Exercise, conducted on 
natural principles, will be found to be the best specific for the 
improvement of the voice, the strengthening of the lungs, and 
the regulation of all vocal action. 

Before entering upon the Theory of Vowel Formation, we shall 
give — as fundamentally connected with the production of voice — 
some directions for the management of 



RESPIRATION. 

The importance of knowing how to regulate the breathing with 
ease and efficiency, in public speaking, cannot be over-estimated. 
Many a zealous speaker has cut short his career of usefulness, by 
injurious action of the chest in respiration ; and complaints are 
most numerous — especially among clergymen — of uneaseinss in 
speaking, great exhaustion after vocal effort, pain in the chest, 
expectoration of blood, and other symptoms of serious pulmonary 
affections, which manifest the prevalence of fatal ignorance 
on this most important subject. 

Here is one serious practical evil arising from the neglect of 
preparatory training in speech, as a part of the necessary education 



20 RESPIRATION. 

of clergymen. They are set to the performance of their arduous 
public duties, with the mere instinct of speech ; and, in conse- 
quence, many sink under the self-inflicted injuries of zealous but 
misdirected effort. We see young men — consumptive looking, 
and with their chests almost collapsed — who work themselves 
into vehemence in the pulpit, by dint of sheer bodily labour. For 
want of a principle of emphatic expiration, which might have 
been, and should have been, acquired by them before the delivery 
of their first sermon, they are compelled to throw a bodily motion 
into every accent, so that, to avoid monotony and drawl, they 
must be constantly in action — tossing and swaying the body — 
rising and falling on the heels — nodding the head — swinging and 
jerking the arms — kneading the cushion — or hammering on the 
pulpit frame. Some, with little taste, or tact, fall into a regular 
set or rotation of actions, which they perform as uniformly as 
automata ; and others, gratifying their sense of the necessity 
for variety, yield to every impulse, and indulge in the most out 
of place extravagance ; under which they steam, and drip, and 
froth ; while the cataract of strained, ranting sound which is 
poured forth, exhausts the powers of nature, and the o'erwrought 
speaker, panting and breathless, sinks into a state of complete 
prostration. 

The ordiuary amount of air inspired for vital wants, is quite 
insufficient for vocal purposes. The lungs must, therefore, before 
speech is commenced, and during speech, be made to contain a 
far greater than ordinary supply of air. For breath, let it be re- 
membered, is the materiel of speech. 

To make the speaker's respiration healthful, the act of inspir- 
ation must be full and deep. No effort of suction is required to 
effect this : the chest has but to be freely expanded, and the air 
will rush into the lungs, and distend them to the full extent of the 
cavity created within the thorax. The chest must then be held up ; 
and the glottal valve must prevent wasteful emission before speech 
is commenced : and, during the whole flow of speech, the chest 
should fall as little as possible. The upward pressure of the 
diaphragm, bearing on the lungs, will expel the breath sufficiently, 
without the laborious action of the bony structure of the chest. 

There needs no muscular straining or effort, to elevate, or keep 
raised, the framework of the client : the wave of breath inspired. 



RESPIRATION. 21 

should buoy it up, and frequent replenishings should keep it, as 
it were, afloat, on the surface of the body of air in the lungs. 

The breathing must be conducted inaudibly: an inspiration, 
to be full, must be silent. Noisy inspirations are necessarily in- 
complete, as their sound arises from constriction of the glottal 
aperture, which, of course, lessens the volume of the current 
of air that can enter. But even were such breathing as effectual 
as the noiseless flowing-in of a icave of air, the hideous effect of 
it would be enough to keep every speaker of taste from so 
outraging the feelings of his auditors. This sort of strangulatory 
inspiration is most common on the stage, among the melo- 
dramatic heroes, whose element and forte are " coloured fire" 
and " desperate combats." 

The common Scotch bagpipe gives an excellent and most 
convincing illustration of the comparative efficacy of a partial, 
and of a complete inflation of the lungs. See the piper, when 
the bag is only half filled, tuning the long drones ! how his arm 
jerks on the wind-bag ! — and hear the harsh and uneven notes 
that come jolting out from the pressure ! Then see him, when 
the sheep-skin is firmly swelled beneath his arm ! — how gently 
his elbow works upon it ! while the clear notes ring out with ear- 
splitting emphasis. Let the public speaker learn hence, an 
important lesson. He but plays upon an instrument — one, too, 
like the bagpipe in construction. Let him learn to use it ration- 
ally ; in consciousness, at least, of the mechanical principles of 
his apparatus. For, as the instrument of speech is more perfect 
than anything the hand of man has fashioned, it surely must, 
when properly handled, be " easier to be played on than a pipe!" 

Many exercises for prolonging the expiration will be found in 
different parts of this volume. 

A very useful exercise for strengthening the respiration we 
may note here. It is Beading in a strong, loud Whisper. This 
will be found very laborious at first, but it will give good practice, 
and will strongly manifest whatever fault of breathing there 
may be to be overcome. 

The following outward index of correct respiration will serve 
to keep the student right in his practice. 

A full inspiration elevates and expands the chest, and, by the 
descent of the diaphragm, slightly protrudes the abdomen ; and 
a correct cocal expiration manifests itself, first, in the flattening 



22 VOWELS. 

of the abdomen, and then in its very gradually falling inward, in 
prolonged expiration : — the chest making no action downwards, but 
merely subsiding a little, as the bulk of the lungs diminishes. 

In cases of pulmonary weakness, the very opposite of this 
mode of expiration is generally found to be habitual. Remove the 
error of respiration, and the lungs will recover their strength. 

Stammerers almost always have their respiration, thus, the 
reverse of natural. The regulation of the breathing is to them 
the most important, and, generally, the most difficult part of the 
process of cure. 

VOWELS. 

The glottis produces voice : the shape of the mouth gives vowel 
character to the voice. Variations of musical pitch, of acuteness 
and gravity in the sounds, are caused, in part at least, by variations 
in the glottis; but all voivel varieties are caused by changes in 
the shape of the vocal passage. If this theory is correct, the 
reed vibration* ought to be capable of being modified into the 
different vowel sounds. It is. The mere action of the hand 
enclosing the open end of the reed or quill modifies the sound 
sufficiently to prove the effect of similar modification on the 
glottal sounds. Close the hand around the quill, so as to leave 
a very contracted aperture for the passage of the sound, and 
then expand the fingers, and the vowels oo and ah will be 
produced. Reiterate the actions rapidly, and the hand will 
give out no bad imitation of a cat's wawling — w-ah-oo — w-ah-ob 
— w-ah-oo. The apparatus of the mouth is wonderfully cal- 
culated to effect the most minute and delicate changes with 
definiteness and precision. Nature must, in this case, ever 
be infinitely superior to the most plastic power of art. Yet art 
has accomplished the mechanism of the vowels in various ways, 
and has even effected intelligible imitations of all the elements of 
speech. De Kempelen constructed a speaking machine ; and, 
recently, Mr Faber's highly ingenious speaking automaton was 
exhibited in this country. Mr Willis, another philosophical 
inquirer into the mysteries of this subject, found that the vowel 
sounds might be imitated by drawing out a long straight tube 

* Page 14. 



VOWELS. 23 

from the vibrating reed. " In this experiment he arrived at a 
curious result : with a tube of a certain length the series of vowels 

Continental Sounds. 



i, e, a, o, u, 

was obtained by gradually drawing it out ; and if the length was 
increased to a certain point, a farther gradual increase produced 
the same sequence in an inverted order, u — o — a — e — i ; a still 
farther increase produced a return to the first scale, and so on." 

Our own experiments on the mouth corroborate this as the natu- 
ral order of these vowels ; but we have been led to carry out the 
principle of vowel sequence much farther. We have been enabled 
to construct a scheme which includes, in regular progression, all 
the vowels in our language, besides several others, — character- 
istic of dialects, and of the French and other languages ; and to 
which any other peculiar formations might be added, so as to 
form a complete scale of natural or possible vowel sounds. 

If the second of Mr Willis's series, [e=a(le)] we reasoned, can be 
obtained by mere elongation of the sound conductor, beyond its 
dimensions for the production of the first [i=ee(l)], the change from 
i to e will probably be gradual ; and, if so, the interval between the 
two sounds must yield some intermediate varieties of vowel 
quality. It should be possible, we thought, to pass from sound to 
sound by such slow progression, as to exhibit vowels in the same 
softly blending relation that is so beautifully seen in colours, 
where melting shades almost imperceptibly lead the eye from one 
to another of the prismatic series. And this is possible. 

The following simple but conclusive experiment was one of 
our early landmarks in the discovery of vowel principles ; and it 
may serve to give the student a clearer idea than lengthened 
theorizing could, of the mechanism of vowels, and of the vowel 
unity of the voice as emitted from the glottis. 

Prolong with open mouth the vowel ah, and, while doing so, 
gradually cover the mouth with the hand. At every stage of 
this process, the ear will recognise a change of vowel quality ; 
the sound will in progression become 

U(m), A(ll), O(re), O(we), Oo(ze), 
by the mere contraction of the external aperture, while the 

* The numbers refer to our English Towel Scheme, page 31. 



24 VOWELS. 

internal channel of the mouth remains uniformly and equally 
extended. 

There are two great agents in vowel modification, the lips and 
the tongue, The lips, by their approximation, externally contract 
the oral aperture ; and the tongue, by its elevation towards the 
palate, internally diminishes the oral channel. The effect of the 
labial approximation is, what we have seen to result from covering 
the mouth witli the hand, viz. modification of the vowel quality 
from ah to oo. The effect of \he lingual approximation is, 
similarly to modify the sound from ah to ee. 

The arrangement of the lips, then, produces one set of vowels, 
and that of the tongue, another ; though, perhaps, few of them owe 
their formation to either organ independently of the other. The 
labial vowels require an expanded internal channel ; to maintain 
which the tongue is slightly depressed at the root, as the labial 
aperture contracts ; and the lingual vowels require a clear and 
broad external aperture ; to maintain which the lips are gradually 
elongated as the tongue rises within the arch of the palate. 

From the mutual independence of these vowel modifiers : — the 
lips and tongue, — it will be obvious that their vowel positions may 
be assumed simultaneously, or variously combined. This is an 
important and, hitherto, — so far as we are aware, — an unnoticed 
fact, to the discovery of which we were led in our experimental 
endeavours to find the exact formation of the vowel in sir, her, &c. 
and of a peculiar, close sound, which some Irish pupils gave for 
the vowel oo. When the principle of separate and simultaneous 
labial and lingual vowel formation revealed itself, these and all 
other tested sounds found at once their proper place in the triple 
vowel scale. 

Equal combinations of labial and lingual forms produce a set 
of vowels to which we shall give the name of labio-lingual vowels. 
In this class will be recognised a few familiar sounds charac- 
teristically distinct from those of the two other classes : but, with 
the exception of the sound in sir, her, &c. the labio-lingual class 
contains no genuine English vowel. 

FIRST VOWEL POSITION. 

The first and last of Mr Willis's series, are the close labial and 
lingual vowels ee(\) and oo(ze.) The approximation of the organs 
in forming these vowels is so close, that any further contraction 
of the vocal aperture creates a vibratory effect upon the tongue or 



VOWELS. 25 

lips, and so converts the vowel ee into the articulation Y, and the 
vowel oo into the articulation W. 

The simultaneous formation of ee and oo produces the peculiar 
Irish sound above mentioned, which is heard in some of the Irish 
dialects, instead of oo. 

ee, then, is the 1st lingual vowel ; oo the 1st labial vowel; and 
the Irish sound, combining the qualities of ee and oo, the 1st labio- 
lingual vowel. 

SECOND VOWEL POSITION. 

The tongue a little depressed from its elevated position at ee(l,) 
gives a vowel intermediate in form and effect to ee(\,) and a(le). 
This is the sound of i as in ill, is, it, &c, which is therefore the 2nd 
lingual vowel. 

The lips slightly separated from their close position at oo(ze,) 
produce a sound intermediate to oo(ze) and o(ld), which is heard 
in some English dialects instead of o(ld) ; as when a Lancashire- 
man says, " Put some coal" (almost, but not quite, cool) " on the 
fire." This, then, is the 2nd labial vowel. 

These two formations combined, produce an appreciably differ- 
ent sound from the first labio-lingual vowel — intermediate to it, and 
the next vowel w(ne.) This is the 2nd labio-lingual vowel. 

THIRD VOWEL POSITION. 

A further slight enlargement of the oral apertures, by the depres- 
sion of the tongue, and separation of the lips, produces, by the for- 
mer action a(le,) the 3rd lingual, and by the latter o(ld,) the 3rd 
labial vowel. 

The union of these formations gives the French sound of u, as 
in une, but, lu, &c, which is therefore the 3rd labio-lingual vowel. 

It is to be remarked of the two correspondent sounds a(le) and 
o(ld), as a curious peculiarity, that in English usage they are 
both diphthongally terminated with the close vowel of their res- 
pective classes, — a with e, and o with oo. The omission of this 
final element of these beautiful vowels is a marked provincialism. 

FOURTH VOWEL POSITION. 

A farther slight opening of the vowel apertures from the 3rd 
lingual position, produces a sound heard in Scotland instead of 
the 2nd lingual, in such words as ill, in, sit, &c, ; and, from the 
labial formation, produces the monophthongal sound of o as heard 
in English before r, in such words as ore, four, soar, &c. 

D 



2« VOWELS. 

The labio-lingual vowel resulting from the combination of these 
forms, occurs as a provincial and rustic peculiarity in England, 
instead of the more open vowel correctly heard in such words as 
sir, her, &c. 

FIFTH VOWEL POSITION. 

An increased depression of the tongue gives the formation of 
the sound heard in e(re,) ell, end, &c, the 5*A lingual vowel : and 
a correspondent increase of the labial aperture from o(re) gives 
the vowel heard in all, saw, on, &c, — the 5th labial formation. 

From the combination of these positions results the vowel re- 
presented by eu in French, and by oe and o, in German. 

SIXTH VOWEL POSITION. 

The next English degree of openness produces, in the lingual 
series, the sound heard in an, at, &c. ; and in the labial series, a 
correspondent enlargement, produces the vowel uh as it is pronoun- 
ced in Scotland, in such words as up, urge, &c. 

The combination of these positions gives the peculiar English 
sound heard in sir, her, earn, Sc. 



We before observed, that few of the vowels owe their formation to 
labial or lingual position alone ; there is for every vowel a neces- 
sary arrangement of the whole mouth : but the preceding sounds 
are formed by so evident a proportion of the one over the other, 
that their being called respectively labial or lingual vowels, will 
be perfectly intelligible. The sounds which follow, however, are 
dependent chiefly on the internal arrangement of the mouth, and 
do not so obviously fall under the same classification. The lips 
are well spread and open, and the tongue well depressed, so that 
the changes of organic arrangement are less manifest ; but the 
vowels are all in regular progression, from close labial and close 
lingual forms, and do, therefore, truly belong to one or other of 
these classes. Positions intermediate to any two, likewise, may 
still be formed, though, from the necessarily slight differences 
between their effects, ears untrained to very accurate observation, 
may think them, in their separate utterance, " distinctions without 
difference." On such minute distinctions, however, often depends 
the very important difference between a cultivated speaker and 
an uneducated or a provincial one. 



VOWELS. 27 

SEVEKTH VOWEL POSITION. 

The next more open vowels than a(n), the 6th lingual, and w(p) 
Scotch, the 6th labial, are two sounds exactly intermediate to 
these vowels, and the most open sound ah. The former is heard 
is such words as ask, past, bath, &c. ; and the latter is the regular 
sound heard in the English utterance of such words as the exam- 
ples of the preceding sound, itp, urge, &c. Let a Scotch and an 
English mouth pronounce any words of this kind, and the differ- 
ence will be readily recognised by any ear. 

The corresponding labio-lingual position gives a shade of sound 
which occurs as one of the many modes of pronouncing the 
vowel in sir, her, fir, girl, earth, &c. These words, in district 
and individual peculiarities, exhibit every possible variety of 
labio-lingual sound, from the close seiir of the rustic Yorkshire- 
man, to the open sah of the untaught cockney. 

EIGHTO VOWEL POSITION. 

In the open vowel ah, — called the Italian a, — both classes of 
vowels unite. The lips are fully spread, the tongue lies flat, and 
the whole mouth is in even neutrality between the two modes 
of vowel formation. 



The subjoined diagram may help to make this altogether new 
subject more intelligible to the reader. Let those who feel inter- 
ested in this department of knowledge test our classification by 
their own experiments, and we believe that its correctness will 
not be disputed. If this be so, what an assistance to the student 
in acquiring, and to the teacher in imparting foreign pronunciations 
must it prove. Even those common French sounds, u and eu, are 
so awkwardly attempted by our countrymen, in the absence of 
a knowledge of their formation, that they are seldom perfectly 
acquired, even in a four or five years' course of instruction in 
French. Yet, with a knowledge of the mechanism of such sounds, 
who could be four hours in mastering them ? 



28 



VOWELS. 



Ungual 



General Vowel Scheme. 

labio-lingual labial. 

1 



Irish variety uf 

— 1 oo— 



i(n) 



a.« 



2 



oo 



I'ruvl. 

— 



Vie nch 

3u- 



o. 



(") 



I'rov. E|»Rli»h 

4 as in sir- 



En K li»h 

2 



e(ll) 
a(n) 
a(sk) 



FreUeh 

5 eu- 



6 er,ir 



—7 er, 



ty of 

ir 



-o(re) 4 

i 

aw 5 

Foot oh 

u(rge)6 
-n (rge) 7 



8 
ah 



This table contains, we believe, all the vowels that occur in 
modern European languages, besides several dialectic varieties. 
But the plasticity of the organs which modify voice is so great, 
that there may be many other shades of sound heard in other 
languages. The number of possible vowels can, we conceive, be 
as little estimated as the number of possible shades of colour. 

Any new vowel may be added to this scheme, so as to render 
it complete for any, or for every language ; and thus, a simple 
system of notation might be constructed, by which all the vowel 
sounds of any people might be represented intelligibly to readers 
of whatever country or tongue. A table of all recognised vowels 
and articulations, on some such natural principle of arrangement 
as this, would be one step towards the realization of that indefinite 
philological speculation, — a universal language. 

To find the place of any vowel not included in our scheme, put 
the mouth in the position for the closest vowels, (e, oo, and the 
intermediate sound respectively,) and, from each of these points, 
very slowly enlarge the oral aperture to the most open position, 
ah; — of course continuing the voice the whole time. In one or 



VOWELS. 29 

other of the three gradations of sound so produced, the ear should 
be able to recognise the vowel sought for, and so ascertain its 
exact formation. By this mode of vowel progression, too, the 
accuracy of the three sequences in our scheme may be satisfac- 
torily tested. 

We have given the formation of twenty-two vowels : —of these 
thirteen are genuine English sounds. The mechanism and ap- 
plication of the latter we shall examine minutely ; and, under 
each vowel, we shall arrange a set of exercises, the practice of 
which may be both interesting and useful. — (Dictionary of 
English sounds, section first. ) 

The characteristics, long, short, open, shut, slender, broad, &c. 
have been applied to the vowels so unsystematically as to confuse 
very much the notions generally entertained with respect to vowel 
qualities, Long and short should be applied only to vowels 
which are essentially the same in formation, and which differ in 
nothing but duration. But we find these terms used with refer- 
ence to sounds which are so different in their structure that no 
change of duration can assimilate them. Thus, e in them is 
called the short sound of the "long slender" a in tame; a in man 
is reckoned the short sound of the a in father; i in him is called 
the short sound of the diphthong i in find; and o in not, and u in 
but, are called respectively the short sounds of o and u* the long 
sounds being heard in such words as owe and you. Of the sound 
of i, as in him, Mr Walker has said, " This sound is the sound of 
e, the last letter of the diphthong that forms the long i ; and it is 
not a little surprising that Dr Johnson should say that the short 
i was a sound wholly different from the long one." 

The lexicographer had, however, in this case, discriminated 
better than the orthoepist ; for the "short i" is a distinctly 
different formation from either element of the " long one." Mr 
Walker considers that the words bid, lid, rid, and bead, lead, read, 
differ only in the quantity of the vowel, — for i, he says, is but the 
short sound of e ; and this theory, taken up without examination 
by his followers, is still to be found published and republished, in 
violation of what the dishonoured ear would, if consulted, at once 



* la the extraordinary classification of vowels by Mr Pitman, the Author of 
the System of "Phonography," u in nut is asserted to be the short sound of o in 
note. Mr P. declares these sounds to be identical in quality, and different 
only in quantity or duration! 



"0 VOWELS. 

show to be the truth. Consistently with this theory, Mr Walker 
calls the Scotch pronunciation, vee-sion, decee-sion, &c. for vision, 
decision, <('c, simply a lengthening of the English sound. Now, 
the tendency of all vowels is to open in prolongation ; but " short 
i " is more open than e, and would not therefore naturally be 
lengthened into e. On the contrary, if any person, guided by his 
ears, and not by preconceived classifications, strive to lengthen the 
generally short vowel i, as in vision, him, ill, &c. he will find that 
the tendency of the prolonged sound will be towards a(le) rather 
than ee(\). This may be well tested by singing the words to 
long notes. 

Long and short are qualities that cannot be predicated as 
essential characteristics of any simple vowel ; for every vowel may 
be indefinitely prolonged by those who have sufficient power over 
their vocal organs to retain them steadily in the vowel position. 
A person accustomed to the vowel in nun, short, as we generally 
have it in English, may essay in vain to prolong it with purity ; 
but a Welshman, who is accustomed to the sound as a long 
vowel, and as the alphabetic name of the letter y, will give it any 
degree of duration with ease. 

The terms long and short are, in this work, used only with 
reference to the same radical sound. 

It is to be observed, that the long forms of vowels have a more 
free and open aperture than the short ones. The modification of the 
mouth is the same, but on a larger scale. Thus the vowel in could 
and cooed, in pull and pool, in very and vary, in not and nought, are 
long and short degrees of the same vowels ; and the aperture of the 
prolonged sounds is more open than that of the short, while it is of 
the same shape, and gives essentially the same character to the voice. 

Open and shut are terms, too, very faultily applied to vowels, 
as no vowels are ever shut; and all vowels must be open, if these 
words have any reference to the oral aperture. Vowels are 
said to be shut, by Mr Walker, when they do not terminate 
syllables, and open, when they do ; but the division of words into 
syllables is too arbitrary for any such distinction. Long 
vowels are frequently " shut," and short ones " open ;" so there 
can be no utility in a classification so vague. Besides, the 
junction of an articulation does not affect the formation of the 
vowel : whether alone or in articulate combinations, the vowels 
are finished where they are produced— viz. in the glottis. Arti- 
culations subjoined affect the length of vowels ; but the term "shut," 



VOWELS. 



:u 



or any other, to signify this, would be useless, as all articulations 
do not affect the vowels alike. 

Broad and slender, also, are terms of no utility. They are 
applied to vowels utterly unlike in every characteristic of sound. 
A in fate, is called the slender sound, and a in fall, the broad 
sound of the same letter. A classification founded, like this, on 
letters, must lead to confusion, while letters are so indiscrimin- 
ately used in our orthography. We have the same letters repre- 
senting half a dozen different sounds, and the same sounds 
represented in more than a dozen different ways. 

Discarding all these names, then, we shall adopt a simple 
numerical notation and nomenclature for our vowels. In this 
way we hope to be the better able to fix the student's attention 
on sounds, irrespective of letters, and to direct with certainty to 
the practice and application of any vowel sound in connexion 
with whatever vowel letter or combination of letters. 

The following is a Table of the English vowels numbered from 
1 to 13. Those which, when accented, are always long, are 
marked (") ; those which are always short, ( w ) ; and those 



which are sometimes long and sometimes short, (" 

ENGLISH VOWELS. 



1 


ee-(l) 


(p)u(ll) (p)oo(l) 


2 


!(U) . 




oh 


3 


a(le) 




5(re) 


4 


8(11) e(re; 


I 


o(n) a(ll) 


5 


a(n) 




u(p) u(rn) 


6 


a(sk) 


7 
ah 




ear(n) 











v ). 

13 
12 
11 

10 
9 

8* 



There are, besides, three combinations of simple sounds con- 
tained in the above Table, forming the 
Diphthongs. 
7-1, as in i(sle). 7-13, as in oiv(l). 

10-1, as in oi(V). 
This classification of English vowels may be thought, at first 
sight, too difficult for general adoption, but it is, in reality, greatly 
more simple than the ordinary modes of arrangement. True, 
we require a separate notation for thirteen sounds in English, — 

* The precise formation of this vowel is given at page 26. All the other 
sounds fall exactly into their proper places in this arrangement. 



as VOWELS 

and alphabetic learners, we may be told, have, on the old plan, but 
five characters to commit to memory. But have we only Jive 
sounds ? While we possess nearly thrice the number of vowel 
sounds that we have of letters, it is folly to think of teaching the 
sounds by the letters. Each letter has to be studied as many 
sounds ; and a tedious enumeration of diphthongs and triphthongs, 
arbitrarily compounded to the eye, though generally simple to 
the ear, have to be committed to the memory, as symbolic of an 
immense plurality of sounds. By our plan, thirteen sounds must 
be associated with thirteen invariable marks, and there the 
difficulty ends. We may retain our irregular orthography as long 
as we like, and trouble our youth little about it, if we only teach 
them to associate vowel sounds with a simple numerical notation. 

To show the minute accuracy with which Pronunciation may 
be noted and taught by means of this vowel scheme, the following 
marked passages are inserted. 

In order to use the notation with certainty, the student must 
first thoroughly master the simple key sounds, and associate 
them with the numbers, without any connexion with letters. He 
must next gain the power of vocally analyzing his utterances, so 
as to be able to produce singly the very same quality of vowel 
which he forms in the articulate combinations of words. 

Note. — The letter R, after any long vowel, has invariably the sound of the 
Eighth Vowel. L and N at the end of a word are printed in italics, to show 
that these letters then, of themselves, constitute syllables. A hyphen between 
two numbers indicates that the sounds are diphthongally blended. Variable 

2 

Words. The article the is pronounced the before an articulation, and before 

1 7-1 

the first vowel ; and generally the before any other vowel. The pronouns my 

7-1 2 2 4-8 

and mine are pronounced my and mine when unemphatic. The verbs were 

1 8 2 

and been are pronounced were and been, when not emphatic. The v:ords 

4-8 4-8 4-8 4-8 \& 

there, (impersonal,) their, wherefore, and therefore, are contracted into 

> 8 8 8 8 

tlier(e), their, wherefore and therefore, when unemphatic. 



7-12 2 13 4412 2 48 4 19 2 13 4 

Vice is the cruel enemy which renders men destructive to men : 

2 5 2 10 2 2 3 5 fc 2 7-1 2 1 10 

which racks the body with pain, and the mind with remorse ; 




VOWELS. 33 



7-15 9 14 10 4 

strife, faction, revenge, oppressi< 

12 7-1 4 2 2 2 3 9 



which produces strife, faction, revenge, oppression, and sedition ; 



which embroils so-ci-et-y, kind/es tlie flames of war, and erects 

2 22 9 2 3 6 3 1 10 7-1 5 12 10 

inquisitions ; which takes away peace from life, and hope from 

4 2 10 11 4 5 8 5 5 4 8 2 

death ; which brought forth death at first, and has ever since 

12 2 2 10 2 4 10 2 7 3 13 5 2 10 

clothed it with all its terrors ; which arms Nature and the God 

9 3 13 64 9564 225 2 224 

of Nature against us ; and against which it has been the business 

9 10 3 2 13 7-1 7-13 12 2 9 5 113 2 2 7-1 4-8 1 9 

of all ages to find out provisions and securities, by var-i-ous 

2 213 9 10 5 k 9 9 8 4 

institutions, laws, and forms of government. 



7-1 2 8 2 8 2 7-1985 619 10 10 1 10 

By the term Liberty, 1 understand a freedom from all respon- 

2222 44 10 11 522 8 13 5 129 2 12 

sibility, except what morality, virtue, and religion impose. 

5 2 1 12 2 2 18 2 2 2 10 12 5 2 2 13 

That is the only liberty which is consonant with the true 

284 9 5 1 12 2282 5 48 25 12 

interests of man — the only liberty that renders his asso- 

139 2 24 12 8 64 5 52 1 12 2282 

ci-ation with his fellows permanent and happy — the only liberty 

5 34 226 1 13 10 96 5 10 89 10 

that places him in a peaceful, honourable, and prosperous com- 

13 22 1 12 2282 5 3 2 29 965 

munity — the only liberty that makes him the son of a land 

5 1 13 2522 2 4 5 294 96 

that he would inhabit till his death, and the subject of a 

3 5 1 13 14 2 2 10 825 29 

state that he would defend with his property and his blood. 



13 4 2 7-1 6 9 15 17-1 2 14 9 5 2 4 

To set the mind above the appet i tes is the end of abstinence ; 

29 9 278 10 8 13 1 10 68 13 9 2 

which one of the Fathers observes to be, not a virtue, but the 

7-13 9 9 6 8 13 71 10 4-8 2 13 13 10 3 

ground-work of a virtue. By for-bear-ing to do what may 

2 12 4219 1 35 7-13-8 2 13 2 9 13 

innocently be done, we may add liour-ly new vigour to 



34 VOWELS. 

4 10 U 9 5 1 13 2 7-13-8 9 12 5 4 4 

resolution, and secure the power of resistance when plea- 
is 10 2 8 4 5 4 4-8 7 13 2 

sure or interest shall lend their charms to guilt. 



3 2 10 8 1 

Scaling yonder peak, 

7-1 10 5 1 12 1-8 2 7-13 

I saw an eagle wheeling near its brow, 

11-8 162 2 10 454 2 

O'er the abyss : — his broad expanded wings 

3 7 5 12 9 4 9 10 14-8 

Lay calm and motionless upon the air, 

5 2 1 12 4 4-8 2 7-13 4-8 3 

As if he floated there with-out their aid, 

7-1 2 12 5 9 2 9 10 4 2 

By the sole act of his unlorded will, 

5 10-1 2 7-13 9 2 2 2 2 

That bu oy ed him proudly up. Instinctively 

7-14 2 12 4 4 1 7-13 2 2 

I bent my bow ; yet kept he rounding still 

2 4-8 2 8 5 2 2 17-1 

His air-y circle, as in the de-light 

9 4 13 2 15 3 11 

Of measuring the ampte range beneath, 

5 7-13 6 7-13 5 10 1 I 4 10 

And round a-bout ; absorb 'd, he heeded not 

2 4 5 4 2 7-1 13 10 13 

The death that threaten'^ him. — I could not shoot, 

10 2 8 2 7-1 9 2 12 6 7-1 

'Twas liberty! I turned my bow a-side, 

5 4 2 11-8 6 3 

And let him soar away ! 



The Use op Flowers. 

10 7-1 5 5 18 2 n 

God might have bade the earth bring forth 

1 9 10 3 5 10 

Enough for great and small ; 

1 12 15 2 17 1 

The oak tree and the cedar tree, 

2 7-13 6 7-13-8 5 10 

Without a flower at all. 



VOWELS. .35 

17-1 5 3 19 19 

He might have made enough, enough, 

10 4 8 2 10 9 7-13-8 

For every want of ours, — 

10 9 13 2 4 2 2 5 10-1 

For luxury, medicine, and toil, 

5 4 5 3 12 7-138 

And yet have made no flowers. 



1 ;ll-8 2 2 2 7-13 2 7-1 

The ore within the mountain mine, 

1 7-1-8 4 9 13 12 

Requir - eth none to grow ; 

10 9 2 1 2 12 9 7-13-8 

Nor doth it need the lotus flower 

13 3 2 2 8 12 

To make the river flow. 



2 7-13 7-1 2 6 9 5 3 

The clouds might give abundant rain, 

2 7-1 2 13 7-1 10 

The nightly dews might fall, 

5 2 8 5 14 7-125 

And the herb that keepeth life in man, 

7-1 4 5 9 4 10 

Might yet have drunk them all. 

4 8 10 4-8 10 8 3 3 

Then wherefore, wherefore were they made, 

10 7-1 2 3 12 7-1 

All dyed with rainbow light, — 

10 5 9 2 13 1 4 3 

All fashioned with supremest grace, 

9 2 2 3 5 7-1 

Upspringing day and night. 

2 2 2 5 2 15 12 

Springing in vallies green and low, 

5 10 2 7-13 2 7-1 

And on the mountains high, — 

5 2 2 7-14 2 8 4 

And in the silent wilderness, 

4 12 5 6 4 7-1 

Where no man passeth by. 



36 VOWELS. 

7-3-8 7-13 10 7-1 I 7-1-8 4 10 

Our outward life re-qu-i-res them not, 

4 8 10 i s 8 

Then wherefore had the}' birth ? 

18 2 2 8 1 7-1 13 5 

To minister de-light to man, 

13" 13 2 7-1 1 8 

To beauti-fy the earth ; 

13 2 8 12 13 9 10 5 

To whisper hope to comfort man, 

4 4-8 2 3 2 2 

Whene'er his faith is dim ; — 

10 13 12 4-S 4 10 2 7-13-8 

For who so car-eth for the flowers, 

2 4-8 9 11-8 10 2 

Will care much more for him. — Mary Howitt. 



The Aspiration H. 

All the vowels are, of course, vocal : but it must be evident 
that the vowel positions may be assumed, to modify a voiceless 
current of breath. In this way is produced a common element 
of language — the aspiration H. H is simply a breathing of the 
vowels : the organs are adjusted to the vowel position before the 
breathing of H is emitted. Thus h in he, hay, high, hoe, ivho, 
has a very different effect, — just as different as that of the vowels 
themselves in these words. H is to the vowels, — exactly what P is 
to B, F to V, S to Z, &c. — a breath variety of the same formations. 
How, then, it may be asked, can h be recognised in whispering ? 
The whispered vowel has, like the spoken one, an explosive com- 
mencement in the glottis — the H has not. Let this be tested in such 
words as is and his, eel and heel, art and heart, old and hold, &c. 
whispered, and the difference between H and a whispered vowel 
will be manifest. 

All the elements of language, then, vowel as well as articulate, 
may be classed under the three heads, — Breath, Voice, and 
Nasal. H represents the breath forms of the vowels ; and their 
nasal varieties are the French elements, en, in, on, &c. — thus : 
Breath. Voice. Nasal. 

H All Vowels French Semi-nasal 

Vowels. 
Breath Articulations... Voice Articulations... Nasal Articulations. 



VOWELS. 37 

Before entering on the theory of articulation, we must notice 
more fully these peculiar French sounds — to which we merely 
adverted at page 17. 

FRENCH SEMI-NASAL VOWELS. 

This formation of vowel finds no place in correct English utter- 
ance, though common in French. The only nasal sounds in 
English are M, N, and NG, in which the voice issues entirely by 
the nose — though for the first two it passes into the mouth also, 
where it is obstructed by the positions of the lips and tongue. M 
and N are heard in French, but the beautifully imitative bell- 
sound NG, does not occur in that language. Instead of this, how- 
ever, there is a series of semi-nasal sounds, represented by en, in, 
on, un, and by various other literal combinations. In forming 
them, the soft palate is depressed sufficiently to open the nasal 
passages, but not so much as, by contact with the tongue, to ob- 
struct the passage into the mouth. This is the difference between 
the English ng, and these French elements which give so much 
difficulty to English learners of French. The English ng brings 
the tongue and soft palate in contact, and consequently prevents 
the issue of breath by the mouth. NG has always, therefore, a 
uniform sound ; it is incapable of any marked change of vowel 
quality. The French sounds, having an oral as well as a nasal 
passage, are capable of being affected by changes in the position 
of the mouth. There are four recognised varieties of them. 
French grammarians evince a high antipathy to the imputation 
that their language contains a greater number of nasal sounds 
than the English. They grant the ungracefulness, generally, of 
such sounds, and exultingly point to the three marks of our nasals, 
while they have but two (m and n,) as a proof that the English 
language has in reality the unenviable superabundance. But the 
French has unquestionably six nasal sounds, four of which are 
vowels, that is, they are formed by a position, and not an action 
of the organs — and two only, articulations. There are, therefore, 
in French, not less than double the number of the English nasal 
elements. Yet, in truth, the English three occur as frequently in 
speech as the French six ; but from their liquid or transparent 
nature, they are so fluent and thin, as often to be little more than 
perceptible: they do not therefore strike the ear with half the 



38 VOWELS. 

sense of nasality that the long French elements do. When the 
English nasals are before breath articulations, as in lamp, tent, 
prince, inch, ink, <C*c, they are so abrupt as to be scarcely vocal ; 
and only when they are final, or before voice articulations, as in 
anger, amber, wander, &c, are they correctly capable of prolon- 
gation. The numerous terminations in ion, ing, nt, nd, nk, nee, &c. 
produce a very frequent recurrence of them, but it is in unac- 
cented syllables, where their natural abruptness is shortened to 
the utmost. The French nasals, on the contrary, are never 
short ; but, in most instances, they are the longest sounds in 
the language ; and they linger in the unhabituated ear with an 
effect which makes the language seem to be almost altogether nasal. 
And there can be no doubt that the habit of forming sounds of 
this mixed and impure character must incline the Frenchman 
to give a partial nasality to many other vowels than those which 
are legitimately nasal. 

With reference to the formation of the semi-nasal vowels, it is 
amusing to see the way in which French grammarians account for 
their nasal quality. In a well known grammar of French Rhetoric, 
by an eminent and talented author, we find the following descrip- 
tion of the " organic formation of French nasal vowels." " The 
formation of the nasal sound appears to be generated chiefly from 
the nostrils," — (all vocal sounds are generated in the glottis,) — "not 
that the sound is exhaled from them, as is erroneously supposed by 
many, but the air, ascending at first from the lungs to the nose, seems 
to acquire there a nasal power ; and, descending afterwards into the 
mouth, it produces, coming in contact with the atmosphere, that nasal 
sound which, although not very gracious, is sometimes manly and 
powerful." In giving directions for the formation of these sounds, 
the author adds, " Let the air, by an internal motion, be sent im- 
mediately from the throat into the nostrils," * * * "it will then 
descend into the mouth, and come out with a nasal power." 

What a most extraordinary power of direction the French must 
possess, if they thus manage to make the obedient vocal stream 
flow into the open nostrils without passing through them ! But 
the thing is absurd. All the air in the nostrils will " come in 
contact with the atmosphere " from the nose ; it must pass 
through, unless the nostrils be plugged up by snuff, or polypus, 
pinched with the fingers, or otherwise obstructed. And though 
the nostrils are obstructed, the voice may still get its " nasal 



ARTICULATIONS. 39 

power " in them ; for, as these elements have a partial channel 
in the mouth, they are not liable to be more affected by nasal 
obstruction than to have their sound slightly muffled. In this re- 
spect they are unlike the English elements M, N, and NG, which, 
having no oral opening, must have a free nasal passage, or the 
obstructed voice will collect in the pharynx, and become ex- 
plosive ; so that M, N, and NG, will be converted into B, D, and 
G, with that muffled nasal murmur, with which every sufferer 
from " cold in the head " is quite familiar. The French gram- 
marians indeed seem ashamed to confess their obligations to the 
nose, though they are clearly indebted to that organ for the 
modification of a large proportion of their sounds. 

To show the difference in quantity between the English and French 
nasals, take any words in the two languages, having an equal 
number of them, and contrast their pronunciation. The English 
word transcendent contains as many nasal elements as the French 
transcendant, but they do not produce one fourth of the quantity 
of nasal sound ; and many French phrases may be found which do 
not contain a single pure vowel, as, for example, "pendant long 
temp;" •' V enfant mangeant son pain," &c. 

In English, the slightest nasal quality in a vowel is an impurity 
and a barbarism. 

We have been led into a longer notice of these French sounds 
than might have been expected or considered necessary in this 
work ; but it is because we have seen no just explanation of these 
peculiar sounds in French grammars, but, on the contrary, 
erroneous theories of their formation, and inadmissible com- 
parisons of them with the English nasals. We believe we have 
shown that the French language has double the number of nasal 
elements that occur in English ; that the quantity of nasal sound 
in French is far more than double that in English ; and that the 
French language is altogether deficient of that most expressive 
articulation, which is represented by the digraph NG, in English. 

ARTICULATIONS. 

All actions of the vocal organs which partially or wholly 
obstruct, or which compress the breath or voice, are called articu- 
lations. The necessary effect of such obstruction or compression, 
is a degree of explosiveness in the breath, when the conjoined or 



■10 ARTICULATIONS. 

approximated organs are separated. Hence arises an element of 
audibility, produced by, or within the mouth, which we have 
stated to be the distinguishing characteristic of this class of the 
elements of speech. 

When the current of breath (unvocalized) is altogether stopped 
by organic contact, as in P, T, K, the only audibility that the 
letter so formed can have, is the puff or explosion which follows 
the separation of the organs. This must, therefore, be clearly 
heard, or the letter is practically lost. In the mode of producing 
this little effect, lies one of the most important principles of 
speech, — a principle on the right application of which depends 
much of a speaker's distinctness, and all his ease. We shall here, 
therefore, endeavour to give an intelligible explanation of this 
principle, and we shall occasionally hereafter refer to it, that 
this new and important subject may have a due degree of 
prominence. 

Let the student pronounce a word ending with P, T, or K, — 
as lip, lit, lick, — and endeavour to make the final letter as long 
as possible : — he will find he only prolongs silence ; for, until the 
articulating organs are separated, there is no sound of voice or 
breath audible. The separation of the organs, after contact, is 
thus necessary for these letters ; and on this disjunction the com- 
pressed air within the mouth will make its escape. Now, here 
lies the point of importance. If only the breath in the mouth, and 
not that in the lungs be ejected, a distinct, sharp, quick per- 
cussion will be heard, which gives to these shut breath articulations 
all the audibility of which they are susceptible. A glottal action 
to check the issue of breath from the lungs, and a retained expansion 
of the chest, to prevent its undue pressure upon the lungs, must 
take place at the instant of separation of the articulating organs. 
The explosive effect of the letters will then be smartly produced, 
and with almost no expenditure of breath. 

The common error opposed to this may serve to make the 
principle more intelligible. It consists in allowing the chest 
to fall, and in continuing the flow of breath after the separation 
of the organs, as in the effort to make a prolonged H, thus : — 
Up~h~, lit-h-, lick-h~, <kc. The letters are by this fault deprived 
of their essential percussive quality, and the resources of the 
strongest lungs are drained most exhaustingly ; and (in public 
speaking) to the great injury of pulmonary health. 



ARTICULATIONS. 41 

This very faulty mechanism of these letters, is almost always found 
in cases of stammering ; and, in a certain degree, it prevails among 
all speakers who complain of weak voices, or of exhaustion from 
vocal effort. 

It may be asked, by what means this explosive effect can 
be produced, if the expiratory muscles, acting on the chest and 
diaphragm, are not to cause the ejection of air from the lungs ? 
The Divine Contriver of the wondrous mechanisms which compose 
the human frame, has not left us unprovided with a safe and 
effectual means of energetic utterance, — so often in His providence 
rendered necessary, — but has furnished us with an explosive 
apparatus, — subsidiary to that of the chest, — by whose action 
man can thunder forth His awful threatenings, or give inviting 
earnestness to His gracious invitations ; without, in the perform- 
ance of these duties, endangering pulmonary health, or, in any 
way, rendering the work of public expostulation insalubrious or 
painful. Those speakers who complain of weak and powerless 
articulation, and of pain after protracted or forcible efforts, are 
sufferers only from ignorance. An organ of power lies dormant 
within them, the want of whose natural action is painfully and 
ineffectively supplied by unnatural and debilitating efforts of the 
organs of respiration. This explosive apparatus is the Pharynx, 
a distensible muscular cavity situated at the back of the moutli ; 
below which is the glottis, in front of it the mouth, and opening 
from it above, are the nares or nostrils. When the soft palate 
covers the upper pharyngeal openings, — the nares, — the effort 
of expiration sends the breath into the mouth, where, if it be 
obstructed in its passage, it will collect ; and it should distend 
the pharynx to a greater or less extent, according to the degree 
of oral contraction or obstruction, and the force of expiratory 
pressure. When the oral obstruction is complete, — as in forming 
P, T, K, B, D, G, — the pharynx should so dilate with the 
momentary pressure of breath, that on the separation of the 
articulating organs, the natural contraction of the pharyngeal 
muscles should effect the percussive audibility of the letters. 

When the lips are in firm contact, as for P, a sufficient pressure 
of breath must cause distension either of the cheeks, the lips, or 
the pharynx. Here, then, is an outward index by which any 
person may direct his own practice for the acquirement of 
pharyngeal power. Give all possible stress to the effort of 

F 



42 ARTICULATIONS. 

expiration while the lips are steadily closed, and if the cheeks and 
lips be not allowed to inflate, the pharynx will distend, and may 
be felt distending by grasping the neck close to the chin. After 
continuing the expiratory pressure for a few seconds, quickly 
separate the lips, and allow the breath within the mouth to 
escape, but without being followed by the least emission from the 
glottis. The same mode of practice may then be adopted with 
the actions T and K, and with the correspondent vocal forms of 
these articulations, as explained farther on. 

The want of pharyngeal power manifests itself in various ways : 
by distension of the lips and cheeks for P, B, as above noticed ; 
by protrusion of the tongue, with incontinency of breath, for T, 
K, D, G ; by laborious actions of the chest and diaphragm, to 
create the explosive audibility of these letters ; by their frequent 
inaudibleness from feebleness of action ; by scattering the saliva 
for S, F, and other continuous elements ; and by general indis- 
tinctness of articulation, and visible laxity of the lips and tongue, 
giving a cumbrously lumpish and lazy appearance to the mouth. 

The continuous use of the chest instead of the pharynx, would 
be painfully fatiguing in speech ; and its inordinate employment 
in forcible utterance, seems to be often productive of serious pul- 
monary disease. 

It is difficult to make this subject sufficiently clear by a brief 
description ; and it would be still more difficult perhaps to get 
the generality of readers to study a lengthened explanation : but 
with a little thought, and a little experiment, what we have said 
will suffice. As an inducement to those who feel interested in 
the subject, to bestow upon it the necessary attention, we may add, 
that the practical effect of the closure of the glottis, buoyancy of 
the chest, and proper pharyngeal action of which we have spoken, is 
such as to enable a person to enounce with each expiration, eight or 
ten times as many syllables as he could without these measures. 
The difference between the two modes of articulation is indeed 
precisely analogous to that between the two obvious methods of 
extinguishing a flame of gas — namely, blowing out the flame, and 
turning off the gas by the stop-cock. The former method would 
tell expensively upon the meter, and the analogous mode of 
finishing articulations, acts most destructively upon the lungs. 

A common defect in the formation of P, T, K, consists in making 
these letters merely stops of the voice, without any audible effect 



ARTICULATIONS. 43 

in themselves. This arises generally from feebleness of action — 
from organic indolence. If it were confined to conversational 
carelessness, it would be less worthy of notice ; but it is too 
common even in public speaking, and it is then very manifestly 
a defect. Pronounce the syllables ap, at, ak, without the ex- 
plosive finish which we have stated to be essential to the 
correct formation of these letters, and it will be a very sharp and 
attentive ear which can recognise a difference between them. 
The public speaker must not trust to such a degree of eager 
watchfulness in his hearers to unriddle his ambiguities. His 
mouth must be so trained as to utter no " uncertain sounds." 

The organs employed in forming the shut articulations P, T, K, 
are the lips, for the first, — the fore part of the tongue and front of 
the palate, for the second, — and the back of the tongue and palate, 
for the last. The mode of articulation is, complete and firm con- 
tact of the organs, with pressure of breath, followed by the rapid 
disjunction of the organs; — the disjunctive action being made 
audible by the percussive ejection of the breath that is com- 
pressed between the glottis and the articulating organs. This 
perfect contact, we designate the 

First Mode of Articulative Action. 

P, T, K, are shut breath articulations. If while the organs 
are in contact for their formation, we make an exertion of voice, 
we shall convert them respectively into B, D, G ; which are there- 
fore shut Voice Articulations of the same mechanism as P, T, K. 
It is important to have the power of producing the shut voice in 
these elements fully and firmly. The sound cannot be prolonged 
indefinitely ; it can only be continued while the cavity of the 
pharynx— into which the vocal stream is forced — is capable of 
receiving more breath. The student may, by grasping his neck 
close to the chin, feel the effect of the pharyngeal distention 
which takes place in these elements. The explosive finish of the 
articulations must be heard the same as in P, T, K. 

Many persons are unable to produce voice in these shut articu- 
lations ; and consequently numerous words containing them are 
liable to be confounded with such as have the correspondent 
breath forms in the same combinations — as dart with tart, daunt 
with taunt, bill with pill, brawn with prawn, gold with cold, glass 
with class, &c. The Welsh always thus mispronounce English ; 
but a little elementary practice will supply the deficient power 



44 ARTICULATIONS. 

to any person who is conscious of the defect, and desirous of its 
correction. 

In practising for the acquirement of vocal power in these 
letters, care must be taken that the sound does not find vent 
through the nostrils.* The expansion of the pharynx and the 
explosive cessation of contact, will be sufficient to keep the stu- 
dent from this fault. 

P, T, K, are commonly called mutes, and B, D, G, semi-mutes ; 
the extraordinary name " demi-semi-v owmjS," is given to them in 
Chambers's Elocution ; sometimes these terms are exchanged for 
sharp and flat, hard and soft, &c; but such names are unphiloso- 
phical and worthless, as they convey no just idea of the real 
difference between the elements. From the existence of such a 
nomenclature, it would seem as if a veil of most impenetrable 
mystery shrouded the vocal principles from observation — or else, 
as if those who have invented and applied the names had never 
troubled themselves to become observers at all. Such descriptions 
as the following do not certainly indicate a very great depth of 
observation. We quote from well known books of reference ; and 
counterparts may be seen under many authorships. 

" B is pronounced by pressing the whole length of the lips 
together, and forcing them open with a strong breath." 

" P is formed by a slight contraction of the anterior part of the 
lips." 

" D is a dental articulation, having a kind of middle sound be- 
tween the t and th ; its sound being formed by a stronger impulse 
of the tongue to the upper part of the mouth than is necessary in 
the pronunciation of t." 

" T is numbered among the mutes or close articulations ; and 
it differs from D chiefly in its closeness, the strength with 
which the breath is emitted in pronouncing t, being all that dis- 
tinguishes them." 

** JK" is usually denominated a guttural, but is more properly a 
palatal, being formed by pressing the root of the tongue against 
the upper part of the mouth, with a depression of the lower jaw, and 
opening of the teeth." 

* In Chambers's Elocution, the student is actually directed to commit this 
barbarism. We read as follows : " The same disposition of the organs (as for 
P, T, K,) with the sound directed to go forth partly through the nose, and 
partly through the mouth, form B, D, and the sound of G in game." 



ARTICULATIONS. 45 

" G has two sounds ; one called that of the hard G, because it 
is formed by a pressure, somewhat hard, of the fore part of the 
tongue against the upper gum. The other sound, called that of the 
soft G, resembles that of J. " Then, if we turn to J, to be informed 
what this indefinable sound of soft G=J is, we are told, — " J has 
invariably the same sound with that of g in giant." 

B and P are thus made to differ only in the quantity of lip 
compressed : B has a stronger impulse of the tongue than t, and 
is a middle sound between t and th ; while, we are told, t is dis- 
tinguished from d by nothing else than the strength with which 
the breath is emitted. No analogous connexion is hinted at with 
reference to k and g ; but, on the contrary, k is said to be formed 
by the root of the tongue acting upwards, and g by the fore part 
of the tongue acting forwards. In the latter case, the writer has 
evidently been thinking of the name of the letter (jee,) though, 
strangely enough, this illustrates the "soft" sound of the letter. 
"Hard G" does not employ the fore part of the tongue, or the 
upper gum at all. 

To those who really want the information, such careless mis- 
direction must be most perplexing. No variation of the mode, or 
degree of labial contact, would ever convert pillow into Milow, or 
blunder into plunder ; nor could any alteration of lingual pressure, 
or strength of expiration ever make fame become dame, or drudge 
trudge. P and B, T and D, K and G, are pairs of articulations 
formed by exactly the same organic motions, the only difference 
being in the material which the actions modify ; whispered breath, 
in the one case, vocalized breath, in the other. 

Every possible action of the mouth may modify breath or voice, 
and thus, from each action may be produced two distinct elements 
of speech. The classification into Breath and Voice Articula- 
tions thus reduces the number of the elemental actions of speech 
to half its apparent amount. 

The above six letters, (three formations,) are all the English 
articulations which altogether obstruct the breath ; and indeed it 
may be questioned whether there can be any other obstructive 
articulation produced by the mouth. Minute differences in these 
formations* there may be in different languages, but we believe 

* In English usage we sometimes have the formation T-D, finished by the 
extrusion of the breath over the sides of the tongue, while the fore-part remains 
on the palate ; this occurs only before I in the same word, as in hvidle. sadetter, 



4ti ARTICULATIONS. 

there can be no organically distinct articulation of this class in 
any language. 

We subjoin a table of the six shut articulations, in combination 
with the thirteen English vowels, which we commend to the 
student's practice. He should take one syllable at a time, and 
reiterate it as often as he can with one breath, giving a strongly 
percussive finish to the articulation. The number he can ma- 
nage will afford a sure test of his power to regulate the breath, 
the chest, and the glottis. With a little practice, after he has 
acquired the knack of striking off the articulations without waste, 
he should be able to produce, with energy and ease, from 60 to 
80 or 100 repetitions of the syllables with each expiration. 

Vowels 



1. 2. 3. 


4. 


5. 6. 


7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 


12. 


13. 


epe Tp ape 


ep 


ap asp 


arp Tip (urp j" awp — 
\ tip I 5p — 


5pe 


<oop 

(OOp 


ete it ate 


et 


at ast 


art lit lurt ( awt ort 
( iit I ot 


ote 


(oot 










(OOt 


eke lk ake 


ek 


3 k ask 


ark irk jurk ( awk ork 
( uk ( ok 


oke 


65k 










ook 


ebe lb abe 


eb 


ab — 


arb Irb <urb f awb — 
I ub I ob — 


obe 


dob 


ede id ade 


ed 


ad _ 


ard Ird <iird ( awd oard 
I iid ( 6d 


ode 


^ood 
(ood 


eag lg aig 


eg 


ag _ 


arg Irg <urg ( awg — 


oag 


oog 



L ug ( og 

These three organic actions yield another set of elements 
by direction of the voice into the nostrils, while the mouth is shut 
up. From the labial formation P-B, is produced in this way, M ; 
from the anterior lingual formation T-D, is produced N ; and 
from the posterior lingual formation K-Gr, is produced NG. 

The actions of the mouth for M, N, and NG are precisely the 
same as for B, D, and G : and though the former gain but little 
audibility by the cessation of contact, yet they cannot, any more 
than the latter, be considered finished until the organs are sepa- 
rated. There is breath within the mouth, pressing against the 
conjoined organs, as well as a free current in the nostrils : and 
though the voice may be perfectly finished by merely closing the 
glottis, the Articulation would be imperfect, if the breath within 

medley, cattle, motley, butler, &c. We also permit the explosive effect of 
these letters to be heard in the nose, before n in the same word, as in bidden, 
midnight, mutton, fifaess, &c. In separate words, however, the f and d 
before / and n must be rejmlarlv finished. 



ARTICULATIONS, 47 

the mouth were not allowed to escape. There is thus a slight — 
but very slight — effect of breath heard on the organic separation, 
as in come, sun, tongue, &c. : it does not amount to an explosion, 
as in the other letters of this mechanism, because there is no 
sufficient obstruction to create explosiveness, — but it is an audible 
effect; and when a vowel follows the articulation, this slight ex- 
pression of breath gives a sharpness and closeness of connexion 
to the combination, which would be wanting, if the nasal sound 
were stopped in the glottis before the organic disjunction. This 
principle is important to distinctness, and it is especially so in 
cases of difficult articulation. 

In finishing these nasal elements, the soft palate must not be 
allowed to cover the nares before the articulating organs are 
separated ; for a momentary closure will produce the explosive 
effect of B, D, and G. A tendency to compress the breath in 
this way is especially felt in ng, in the formation of which the 
tongue and soft palate are in contact, and so already in the posi- 
tion for G, to which it is consequently more easily convertible than 
the other nasal letters are to their explosives. 

Many English mouths, particularly London ones, are so much 
in the habit of finishing ng with a g, that they seem, even after 
many attempts, utterly unable to make the nasal element singly. 
Singer, hanger, &c. they pronounce as perfect rhymes to finger, 
anger, &c. The opposite fault prevails in Scotland, where the 
latter words are pronounced so as to rhyme with the former. 
The error, in both its phases, is easily susceptible of correction. 

The student should assure himself by experiment, of his power 
to finish the nasal articulations by the audible, yet inexplosive, 
separation of the organs. A little exercise of this kind will correct 
any faulty habit he may have acquired in the formation of these 
important elements of speech. Let the following table be slowly 
and attentively practised. 

Vowels 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. f>. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 

eemim aim em am * arm Irm < (inn < awm orm ome oom 

( iim ( om 

een In ain en an * arn flm \ urn \ awn orn one oon 

(^ un ( on 

* ing * * ang * * * ling ong * * * 



* The final articulation does not occur in English, in combination with this 
vowel. 



ARTICULATIONS. 

These three nasal articulations are the only elements which em- 
ploy the nose in English. We have correctly no semi-nasal sounds 
as in French : and if there can be no other obstructive articulation 
than those we have enumerated, there cannot be any other purely 
nasal element in any language : for the breath must be in some 
way obstructed by the mouth, before it can be directed entirely 
into the nostrils. 

The English nasals are all voice articulations. It is, however, 
possible to form them with unvocalized breath, and bad speakers 
often do so : but our language does not recognise such sniffling 
among its sounds. In Gaelic, there seems to be, or to have been, 
an aspirate form of the nasal letters : mh is a common digraph 
in that language, but it is now generally sounded v, with this 
peculiarity, that it nasalizes the adjoining vowel. 

We have now seen from three articulations of the mouth, no 
fewer than nine distinct elements of speech produced. There are 
in English fifteen other articulate elements; these are the result 
of only nine actions ; six of which are used to modify both voice 
and breath, and three to modify voice only. 

The remaining articulations are all continuous ; they have oral 
apertures more or less free for the emission of the breath or voice. 
They may be divided into close and open continuous elements ; 
and, organically, into those formed by approximation, vibration, or 
partial contact of the articulating organs. 

The nasal "liquids" M, N, NG, and the oral "liquid" L, we 
call open, because their channels of sound are so open that the 
breath does not produce upon the organs any vibratory or rustling 
effect, as it does in all the other continuous elements, which are 
therefore called close. 

Second Mode of Articulative Action. — Approximation. 

The nine articulations we have described, viz. P, B, M ; T, D, 
W j K, G, NG ; are formed, as we have shown, by organic 
contact. Similar dispositions of the mouth, but with the organs 
in close approximation only, will furnish us with a series of 
elements of the continuous class. Thus, when the positions P, 
T, K, are loosely assumed, so that the breath is not altogether 
shut in, a set of articulative breathings will be produced ; the 
first of which resembles F, the second a whispered R, and the 
third the German or Scotch Ch. 

Neither of these is heard in English. Among individual 



ARTICULATIONS. 49 

peculiarities, the first is sometimes met with instead of F ; the 
second is found in Welsh and Gaelic, represented by Rh ; and 
the third is common in all the Scottish dialects, in the German, 
the Spanish, and many other languages. 

The breath may be vocalized with the organs in these positions, 
and another set of elements will be produced, of which the 
second will be recognised as the smooth or English R ; the first 
resembles V*, and is one mode in which that letter is sometimes 
faultily articulated ; and the third occurs, we believe, in the Russian, 
and in other strongly aspirated languages. It is also not un- 
frequently heard as a cacophonic substitution for R, — in which 
case it may be considered as a smooth burr ; bearing the same re- 
lation to the uvular rattle, that the English R does to the rough 
rolling continental R. 



If the lips, from the first of these continuous positions, be slightly 
opened, so as to form a central aperture, rather more oval in 
shape, they will then be in the position from which Wh and W 
are struck off by an abrupt compressive action. The absence of 
this action removes the articulative quality, — compression and 
explosiveness of breath, — and reduces W to the vowel oo, and wh 
to a sort of semi- whistle. 



The tongue may be approximated to the palate at different 
points. If, from its position at R, it be advanced a little towards 
the upper gum, but still in approximation, and having a very con- 
tracted central aperture for the passage of the breath, the hissing 
sound of S will be produced. The horizontal position of the 
tongue for this element requires the teeth to be very closely 
approximated, — but without touching: if the jaws are too 
much apart, the tongue cannot sufficiently contract the sibilant 
perture, and too much breath escapes ; while if the teeth are 
perfectly closed, the breath is forced to pass through their 
interstices, and thus acquires a lisping modification from the 
teeth. 

*The letter B in Spanish often lias this inexplosive mode of articulation. The 
Spanish soft sound of B is commonly thought to be the same as our English V; 
but we mistake if its true formation is not this close mutual approximation 
of the lips. The effect of the articulation is sufficiently like that of V to be 
easily mistaken for it. 

G 



50 ARTICULATIONS. 

This articulative actioii, giving sibilation to a stream of voice, 
produces Z. 



If, from the position S, the point of the tongue be drawn 
inwards, so as to remove the seat of articulation further back on 
the tongue and palate, and at the same time enlarge the aperture 
for the breath, the sound of Sh will be produced. The change 
from S to Sh is analogous to that already noticed, from the First 
Labial Continuous formation to the semi- whistle Wh ; for Sh, too, 
is a semi-whistling sound : a further enlargement of the aperture of 
either element produces a labial or lingual whistle. 

This articulation modifying voice produces the sound of the 
letter Z in azure, which, as the vocal form of Sh, may be con- 
veniently represented by Zh. This is the sound of the letter J in 
French. 



If the middle of the tongue be now approximated to the palate, 
at a point intermediate to Sh, and the Third Continuous formation 
(Ch, Ger.), it will be in the position for the articulation of Y, as 
heard (without voice) in Aue, hew, &c, and (with voice) in you, 
use, cue, pew, tune, duke, &c. This is almost the position for the 
vowel e : — y, (vocal) prolonged, gives the sound of a contracted e, 
— the vowel being slightly depraved in quality by the audible 
rustling of the breath over the too closely approximated tongue. 



Another set of articulations, — if they are worthy of the name, — 
may be produced by so loosely approximating the organs that a 
sufficiently strong current of air will cause them to vibrate and 
flap against each other. 

When the back of the tongue and soft palate are thus loosely 
approximated, the relaxed edges of the latter, and especially its 
narrow prolongation, the uvula, are easily thrown into vibration 
against the tongue, and the Northumbrian burr is produced. 
When the fore-part of the tongue, — similarly relaxed, — is laid 
along the edge of the palatal arch, a smart stroke of the 
breath will set it in vibration, and the rough R, as heard in 
Scotland, and in most of the continental languages, will result. 
This sort of articulation may be performed, too, by the lips. 



ARTICULATIONS. 51 

If they lie loosely together, a strong breath will produce upon 
them the barbarous effect of a vibration, or flapping, pre- 
cisely analogous to that of the burr and rough R. This sound, 
fortunately, is not heard in any language with which we are 
acquainted. Probably its absence, while the two other — kindred 
sounds — are common, results from the greater difficulty of pro- 
ducing the labial vibration ; as the force of the breath is dissipated 
in the mouth before it reaches the lips. 

R is called the canine, or dog's letter ; but the name is strictly 
applicable only to the burr, which is precisely the same in 
mechanism as the snarl of a cur. There is not much dignity, 
however, in this mode of articulation by any organism, though 
the lengthened R (not the burr) may be expressive enough in 
some words, as in the " rude rolling of a rebel drum. 1 ' 

The polishers of continental language might do well to imitate 
the English in their treatment of this cur-related sound, and, as 
Macbeth did physic, " throw it to the dogs." 



Third Mode of Articulative Action. 

Another, and the last variety of articulative action, consists in 
partial contact of the organs, so that the breath finds no central 
passage, and consequently escapes by lateral apertures. 

There is no element formed in this way by the root of the 
tongue and soft palate : the nature of the organs does not admit 
of this mode of articulation. 

The fore-part of the tongue applied to the palate, with lateral 
apertures free, produces L. This articulation is always vocal in 
English, but, in Welsh, the breath form is a very common element 
—represented by 11. The voice channels of the English L are 
so open that there is no vibratory effect created by the passage of 
the breath. The sound is as pure as that of any vowel,* and, but 
for the action necessary to complete the element, it would be 
classed among the vowels. Its fluency of combination with other 
articulations has given it (with n, m, ng,) the name of liquid. 

* All the vowel sounds may be produced with the tongue on the palate, as 
in Li The lateral apertures can be sufficiently modified to form every shade of 
sound, from e to ah ; and, with the aid of the lips, from ah to oo ; and the 
intermediate varieties of vowel sound can also be very correctly imitated without 
removing the point of the tongue from the palate. There is even very little 
peculiarity in the vowels — singly produced — by this mechanism. 



*2 ARTICULATIONS. 

A form of L with contracted apertures, and, consequently, with 
a rustling sound produced by the passage of the breath between the 
sides of the tongue and the back-teeth, occurs in Gaelic ; and pro- 
bably in other aspirated languages. We have met with this for- 
mation among individual peculiarities as a substitute for that 
of S and Z, to which it bears a very rude resemblance. 



The tip of the tongue applied to the inner surface of the upper 
teeth, with contracted lateral apertures for the passage of the 
breath between the tongue and teeth, gives the formation of th, 
as heard (without voice) in *Ain, and (with voice) in then. 



The middle of the lower lip applied to the* edge of the upper 
front-teeth, with contracted lateral apertures, for the passage of 
the breath between the lip and teeth, gives the formation of F, 
— which, with voice added, becomes V. 



The works already quoted from,* which state P to be formed by 
a " slight compression of the anterior part of the lips," make 
the formation of F to consist in " compression of the whole lips, 
and a forcible breath." Certainly the writer never could have 
pronounced his own Ps, or fashioned his own Fs, consistently with 
this theory. Strange that people will not appeal to their own 
mouths, or to any well-formed mouth, if their own are not so, to test 
the correctness of descriptions, before copying, thus, the careless 
and conflicting testimony of books. 

We have now given the formation of thirty-seven elements of 
articulation, — the product of only seventeen actions of the mouth, — 
or, including the movement of the soft palate in the nasal sounds, 
as a separate action, — the product altogether of eighteen actions 
of the organs of articulation. The following table exhibits them 
in the order in which we have described them. 

* Page 44. 



ARTICULATIONS. 



53 






Breath. Voice. 
-P B 



No. 



'if 






Nasal. 
U 2} 



© 

H 

P 

O 



r S— < 






>•: : 



(Pll) (Bll) (Spanish B) 

Rh R (smooth). 

Cll(German) Gh 

a •{ wh w 

s z 

Sh Zh 

L Hy Y 

(KRh) GR(burr).... 

(Rh) R(rough)... 

=lip vibration= ... 



fLl(Welsh)L. 



=contracted L (Gaelic) 



* 8 



Th. 
F... 



.Th. 
.V. 



Ng. 



10 

11 

12 

13. 

.141 



.15 



,16 
17J 



Note. — The three nasals, M, N, and Ng, though orally obstructive, are in 
effect continuous, and may be ranked with those elements that have 
partial contact. They are here placed on the same line with the 
obstructives, to show that their oral mechanism is the same. 

Of these thirtj-seven articulations, twenty- four (twelve actions) 
are elements of English speech. One of these, however, (No. 12, 
voice) — the rough R — is used only for purposes of effect and 
imitative expression. 

We shall now range the English articulations in the order of 
their formation ; beginning with those that are formed farthest 
within the mouth, and proceeding outwards to the labial articu- 
lations. 



54 ARTICULATIONS. 

English Articulations. 
Breath. Voice. 



>ral. 
l 

K 


Oral. 
2 

G 


Nasal 
3 

NG 


Hfew) 


5 

Y 




6 

Sh 


7 

Zh 






8 

R froucrh") 






9 

R (smooth).... 


— 




10 

L 




T 


12 

D 


13 

N 


14 

s 


15 

z 




16 

Th(in) 


Th(en) 


_ 


18 

F 


19 

V 


= 


20 

Wh 


21 

w 


— 


22 

P 


23 

B 


24 

M 



We have elsewhere shown (page 12) the defective way in 
which these twenty-four articulations are represented by our 
alphabet. The alphabet contains almost characters enough ; for 
it has 21 letters to represent this class of elements : but of these, 
two — namely, C and Q — are altogether redundant ; and two more 
— namely, J and X — are marks of combinations, and not simple 
elements ; so that we have, in reality, only seventeen appropriate 
characters by which to write all our articulations. With what ir- 
regularity these letters are used in the notation of our language 
will be seen in a subsequent chapter. 

The following extract is marked to show the primary distinction 
between Breath and Voice Articulations. The articulations 
which have a glottal, as well as an oral audibility, are printed 
in italics. Those not so printed are breath articulations, — that 
is, they have an oral audibility alone. In reading this illustra- 
tion, the voice should be given as purely and distinctly as possible. 



ARTICULATIONS. 55 

Note. — R is not au articulation except when before a vowel; and, if the pre- 
ceding vowel is long, the R has then both its vowel and articulative 
effect, as in vaRy, — in which case it is represented by a capital letter. The 
letter u, when sounded alphabetically, represents the articulation F, and 
the vowel oo, — to denote which, it is printed in capital: after q, always, 
and, in a few cases, after other articulations, u has the power of w. 
The letters e and i, when before a vowel, have sometimes the power of 
Y, — instances are marked by capitals. The letter o in one represents 

9 

wu, — to denote which, the o is made capital. 

Great Effects from Little Causes. 

JVotkingr created is great or little, except comparative Ij, and in 
relation to its effects, and the method of its operation. TAe 
quantity of caforic in the whole world, if it were expressed, and 
could be condensed by some Faraday or Thiforier on One scale of 
the most dedicate of balances, ivould not make it kick the beam so 
sensiMy as the thinnest 6reath of air, if at all ; yet that latent 
heat is so magnificent in power, that certain local disturbances of 
its equilibrium are productive of earthquakes and volcanoes : and 
.#Ewton used to fcoast, with that quiet pleasantry of illustration 
which was as characteristic of him as his sure induction, that, if 
he were the master o/fire, he could pack the planet in a nut-she??. 
Electricity, too, is said to be imponderable ; but the sudden re- 
storation of the interrupted balance between such quantities of 
the subtife fluid as are contained in opposing c?ouds, — themselves 
so diminutive in comparison with the body of the earth, — is the 
cause of the thunder storm. 

The very direction in which a power is applied, or in which a 
weight is avowed to operate, is so immensely more significant 
than the weight itself, that Archimedes, after having showered 
imponderable arrows of sunfire on the enemies of Syracuse, and 
turned up their vessels of war, wanted but a point to p?ant his 
lever, in order to move the world with his puny arm ! What is 
the weight of water with which Tfatt cKps thick iron, Zike paper, 
into shreds ; and sends his hu^e leviathans, thro&Mn<7 in tJieir ir- 
resistible struggle, across the Atlantic, with all but the regularity 
of the freighted planets themselves ! Are not a fEw pounds of 



5ti ARTICULATIONS. 

weight transformed into tons, by the mere disposition 0/ them by 
Bramah, on the principle 0/ the old hydrostatic paradox ? 
Paradox ! One had thought the day 0/ paradoxes was over for 
ever now. Everything #reat is a paradox at first ; because our 
own ignorance makes it strange. 

Illustrations of the manifestations of great forces by little bodies 
may be drawn from the region o/pure physics. Davy, fearlessly 
following the principle 0/ electrical induction by contact, discovered 
that half-a-do^en square feet of the copper sheathing 0/ the British 
fleet are rendered electro-negative by a zinc nail driven through 
the centre 0/ the space, and are thereby protected from the 
corrosive action of the sea with its stores of oxygen, chlorine, and 
iodine, everywhere ready to be let loose upon metallic substances. 
Nay, Sir John Herschell finds that the relation to electricity 0/ a 
mass of mercury is such, that it may be reversed by the admixture 
0/ an almost infinitesimal proportion 0/ a body, such as potassium, 
in an opposite electrical condition. So impressed is he with this 
class 0/ ooservations as to o&serve, " That such minute proportions 
0/ extraneous matter should be found capaole 0/ communicating 
sensible mechanical motions and properties, o/a definite character, 
to the body they are mixed with, is perhaps One 0/ the most extra- 
ordinary facts that has appeared in chemistry." 

Everything that has been said a6out material forms, into which 
the breath 0/ life has not been inspired, must be affirmed, and 
more urgently affirmed, 0/ the living frame, with its fearful, though. 
harmonious complication. The physician and his forces have to 
deal with a qniverino- epitome 0/ all the species 0/ susceptibility 
in creation, One kind reacting on another, so as to produce a com- 
bination 0/ harmony so highly strung, that the prick 0/ a pin shall 
p-rate upon every fiore, and a cooling odour, in a hot atmosphere, 
impart refreshment and delight to every nerve. According to the 
experiments ofLeuchs, if the ten thousand two hundredth part o/a 
o-rain 0/ tartrate 0/ mercury be diffused through the suostance o/a 
sweet pea, the faautiful o-erm o/a graceful floweiiiiio-hcro, which lies 



ARTICULATIONS. 57 

folded up within its horny pericarp, sha.ll never come uut and be 
expanded, though you incfose it in the softest mould, and solicit it 
by every art. before Androc?us will a lion, with a paltry thorn 
in his royaJ pal?n, crouch in his rock-bui£t pa?ace, Mid humbly 
crave deliverance from the insignificant prickle that has unstrung 
his fi&rous frame. i?ut ?nan is a creature 0/ such exqttisite and 
manifold sensi&iftty to the agency of even physical re-a^ents, that, 
when the compacted fca'ance of all the parts is disturbed in any 
One way, and idiosyncrasy is produced, the feel of velvet produces 
nausea in some ; a professor 0/ natural philosophy faints under a 
sprier 0/ Zaoender; an Euasmus ca?mot so much as taste fish 
tn^Aout a fever ; a Cardinal Hauy de Cardonne s?#oons at the 
smell of a rose ; a Sca%er fa??s into convulsions at the sight 0/ 
cresses ; and a Tycho Brahe trembles in the awful presence of a 
hare. — Dr Samuel Brown. 

Elementary Instruction in Speech. 

It really seems strange that speech, — a power so common and so 
invaluable, a thing " in every body's mouth," should not have been 
taught to us elementarily ; and, in looking back over the pages 
of this chapter, very strange it certainly appeal's, that there should 
be such a phenomenon in cultivated society, as a person incapable 
of sounding an S, an L, an R, or any of the simple elements 
correctly : yet we have even public teachers — in almost every 
department of knowledge — exhibiting in their utterance such 
shameful incapacities, in great variety, and vitiating by their high 
example the taste and habits of extensive listening circles ; so that 
it is really thought no disgrace to be a burrer, a lisper, a mumble r, 
a drawler — to twang words i' the nose, to scream, and roar, to 
foam, to squeak, to whine, to mouth, and otherwise so to abuse 
the glorious faculty of speech, that, with Shakspeare, we may say, 
it seems as if " some of Nature's journeymen had made men, and 
not made them well, — they imitate humanity so abominably." 

The reason of the general ignorance of speech, from which such 
a state of things results, is, we are told, just the very commonness 
of the faculty, which seems to render the subject below scientific 
inquiry. But is it therefore unworthy of being understood ? 
Why then were not scientific men satisfied with seeing and hearing 

H 



ott ARTICULATIONS. 

on the same ground \ Why did they seek to know how we see and 
hear ? They have elaborated theories of optics — and look at the 
result ! Wonderful mechanical adaptations of optical principles, 
before undreamt of, and which, otherwise, would never have been 
discovered. Might not an analogous result attend the philoso- 
phical investigation of the faculty of speech ; and acoustic and 
articulative principles be developed, which would lead to mecha- 
nical inventions no less wonderful and useful than those in optics ? 
A subject so little explored, and so open to operations, is, at 
least, full of promise to science. 

In the ordinary mode of teaching children to read, the difficul- 
ties, necessarily attending our defective orthography, are fully 
laid in the learner's way, so as to make his task one of as much 
drudgery as possible. What is called elementary instruction is 
not such, — our children have no really elementary instruction in 
speech. They are taught the alphabet, such as it is ; but they are 
not taught an alphabet of sounds. They are taught to name the 
letters; that is to say, they are taught to associate . with the 
characters a set of words, by which they may in time become 
qualified to speak of the letters, but they are not taught those 
simple elementary sounds by which they might at once be enabled 
to speak the letters : so that the child has not the most distant 
idea of the real object of the characters he becomes familiar with. 
It never can enter into his mind that they stand for no more 
in speech than those puffs, and blows, and hisses, and other funny 
noises, which the youngest in the school could make perfectly, and 
would make with most delightful interest ; this is all darkness to 
him : — and if, by some accidental coincidence between the name 
and power of a letter, a ray of light flash upon him, and he seek to 
trace it to the truth which shot it forth, he soon gives up the 
search in despair ; — the light disappears at the first step from the 
chink which let it in — and he can see no way out of the double- 
you, eye t ell, de, e, are, en, e, double-ess, (wilderness) by which he 
finds himself surrounded. 

The first sad period of his education at last over — he " knows 
his letters." Unfortunately, however, he discovers that he is 
then hardly in the least advanced in the art of reading, but has a 
new task to learn, and a new vexation, in every new combination 
of letters. One thing, however, is done, beyond the mastery of 
the alphabetic names ; he has learned to learn without under- 



ARTICULATIONS. 59 

standing — to know without knowing what; — and he is therefore 
prepared to apply what he knows in any way he may be told, 
without inquiring, or caring to learn, the how and why. A 
foundation is laid for a mindless after-course. The school he 
either dislikes, or loves only for its opportunities of social mischief ; 
till in due course he "finishes his education," and leaves the 
school — with a certain amount of knowledge acquired by dint of 
preceptorial authority, but without having learned the pre-emi- 
nently important lesson — to teach himself — to love knowledge for 
its own sake — to have a " constant care to increase his store" — 
and to go on a scholar to the end of his days. 

Fraught with consequences momentous as these, is, we believe, 
the false initiatory training of the alphabetic class. 

An improved orthography would, no doubt, be a ready means 
of improving this state of matters, — and a very excellent system 
of letters has recently been introduced as an experiment ; — but 
we fear existing prejudices will be found too strong to admit of 
sufficient reformation in this way. A better use must be made 
of present materials. 

The rational mode of teaching to read would surely be, to begin 
with the mouth, and teach it to speak; — to present, first, to the 
imitative aptitude of children the simple elemental sounds of 
language, and get them practically mastered orally, before en- 
deavouring to teach the eye to recognise their arbitrary symbols. 
The sounds should be the first object of the teacher ; and their 
practice will be an amusement — not a task — to the children : — 
while, in learning them, they may be led on, almost insensibly, 
to a knowledge of the alphabetic symbols, and so by a most 
agreeable method, and in a very short time, gain all, and much 
more than all, that is now gained after laborious and protracted 
effort on the part both of teacher and pupil. 

Distinct and graceful habits of speech, too, would thus be 
formed ; the mouth would be always in advance of the eye ; and 
so there would be an end to those abortive mouthings, and to 
that hesitancy and stammering which, in a greater or less degree, 
are common to all educational tyros now, and which do sometimes 
strike root into the muscular and nervous systems, and produce 
most pitiable objects in society. 

A glance at the pages of English writers of past and present 
times will show that innovations in orthography are not to be 



80 ARTICULATIONS. 

dreaded as novelties without precedent, and of doubtful conse- 
quence. Our lauguage has been, in this respect, in a state of 
constant change ; modes of spelling, and modes of pronunciation 
too, have had their seasons of fashion and of desuetude : and 
people have got on without perplexity amid their fluctuations, and 
have as readily adopted the novelties, and antiquated their ante- 
cedents, as they have changed the fashions of their garments. 
Note, there is less liability to change, and it is more difficult to 
effect alterations, on account of the numerous dictionaries which 
have given something like a standard to orthography. But even 
in these there have been changes, and every new lexicon registers 
some alterations. There is, therefore, no ground for a spirit of 
etymological conservatism, opposing improvements as destructive 
to long-instituted and time-honoured modes of spelling. Changes 
will take place, and the more the subject of speech is studied, the 
more rapid and easy will transitions become, till letters present a 
picture of sounds almost as simple as the sounds themselves. 

An orthographic reformation is commonly deprecated by the 
educated, though none can deny that it would afford the readiest 
means of giving the blessings of education to the illiterate. The 
various objections urged against a change are all of them selfish 
considerations. They possess no weight in comparison with the 
great advantages which would result from the adoption of a mode 
of spelling correspondent to our actual utterance. 

An ill-represented language is a hindrance to foreign com- 
munication ; and this must lead to reformations, as international 
intercourse increases. The inconveniences of English orthography 
are peculiarly great. The language itself is difficult enough to 
foreigners ; but its irregular orthography renders its correct use 
almost unattainable to those who are not 

" Native here, and to the manner born." 

The object of the present work is not, however, to attempt a 
change in orthographic practice. We believe that a better 
acquaintance with the elementary simplicity of speech will in time 
work all necessary changes ; and we therefore leave speculative 
reformations in the meantime, and confine ourselves to practical 
improvements in the use of present materials. We have en- 
deavoured to frame from actual observation a complete scheme of 
the elements of speech — to show the true powers of our letters, and 
so to remedy in some degree those inconveniences which result 



QUANTITY. 61 

from ignorance superadded to the systematic absurdities which 
confessedly characterize our language, as it vainly struggles to pre- 
serve an etymological shadow in the Writing, when the substance 
has no longer an existence in the Speech. 

QUANTITY. 

Different degrees of quantity may be recognised in the simple 
elements of speech, vowel and articulate, as well as in their sylla- 
bic and verbal combinations. Among the English Vowels, singly 
uttered, we distinguish three degrees of quantity. The longest 
are those vowels which consist of two qualities of sound, viz. — 
diphthongs. They may be composed of either an open vowel taper- 

3 1 7 1 7 13 10 1 12 13 

ing into a closer, as a-e, ah-e, ah-oo, aw-e, o-oo, — heard in ail, 
isle, owl, oil, old, — or of any monophthong- vowel flowing into the 

8 18 48 78 98 10 8 

open and peculiar sound er, — as e-er, eh-er, ah-er, uh-er, aw-er, 

11 8 13 8 

o-er, oo-er, — heard in ear, air, are, urn, drawer, ore, poor. These 
are all diphthongs; though only the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th of the first 
set are generally enumerated as such.* 

The initial elements of all these diphthongs give long monoph- 
thongs, which are the next in quantity to the diphthongs. — The 

3 1 12 13 4 8 9 8 11 8 

first sounds of a-e, o-oo, eh-er, uh-er, o-er, do not occur separately 
as long sounds in English : the first two do not occur separately 
at all. 

The next and shortest class of vowels are those abrupt utter- 
ances of voice heard in ill, ell, an, us, on, book, &c, which are 
short monophthongs. There is not, as seems to be generally sup- 
posed, any degree of duration essential to either of the monophthong 
vowels. The longest may be pronounced as shortly as the regu- 
larly short sounds ; and any of the latter may be prolonged to 
the full quantity of the longest of the former class. Thus, if we 
endeavour to prolong the short monophthongs, or to stop abruptly 
the long ones, we shall discover that eh, aw, and oo, are essentially 
the same vowel formations as e(ll), o(n), (b)oo(k) ; and also 

* In Smart's Dictionary, the last class of sounds is noticed in the scheme of 
vowels, under the separate head of (1 Vowels which terminate in 
Guttural Vibration," 



62 QUANTITY. 

that «(s) is precisely the same sound as the initial element of the 
diphthong ur. 

The monophthongs e and ah are never short in accented syllables 
in English ; but that they can be shortened as readily as those 
which are sometimes long and sometimes short, will be evident 
from experiment. In Scotland their short sounds are often heard ; 
they constitute, indeed, a main feature in the Scottish dialect. 
The 5th vowel a(n), though always short in English, is often heard 

5 

long in Scotland, as in the word father — pronounced fa-ther — and 
in many words which have the 6th and 7th sounds in England. 
Even in England, we sometimes hear a long form of the 5th vowel, 
and regularly in Ireland, in the words aunt, chant, Sfc.,pass, graft, 
laugh, bath, Sfc. The correct vowel for the former words is ah, 

6 

though the intermediate a, heard correctly in the latter words, is 
perhaps as often used by good speakers. 

Among the articulations there are various degrees of quantity. 
The vocal articulations are essentially longer than the non-vocal, 
but in each class there are varieties. 1. The Breath Obstructives 
are the shortest ; — 2. The Breath Continuous elements are the 
next longer ; — 3. The Shut Voice Articulations (the shortest of 
the vocal elements) are the next ; — 4. The Close, Continuous 
Voice Articulations are longer still ; and, 5. The Open Continuous, 
(or Liquids) are the longest simple articulations. Thus, there 
are five degrees of quantity among the articulations. The follow- 
ing is their arrangement : — 



(I.) P, T, K. 

(2.) F, Th, S, Sh. 



(3.) B, D, G. 
(4.) V, Th, Z, Zh. 



(5.) L, M, N, ng. 

It will be observed, that we omit from this table W, Wh, Y, and 
R. The reason is, that these articulations do not occur after 
vowels, but only as initials in English ; and all initial letters, 
whether voice or breath, are alike in quantity. 

These differences of articulative quantity will be best observed 
by prefixing to each articulation the three classes of vowels. The 
short vowels will be found to have degrees of shortness, according 
to the kind of articulation they precede, — and the long monoph- 
thongs and diphthongs will also be found to be considerably 
affected in quantity by the succeeding articulation. — The follow- 



QUANTITY. 63 

ing Table shows each class of Articulations in combination with 
the Three Varieties of Vowel Quantity. To read over this table 
frequently will be a useful exercise both for the ear and the 
organs of speech. The whole of the combinations with each 
vowel, should be read consecutively — that is, the table should 
be read line by line, across all the columns, — that the ear may be 
enabled to trace the quantitative gradations. 

.r 1 rrr 1 him i m m m m i 

|.s§ig§ 1 |S 1 J §§ |-il.sijlllil 
B SagaiBl' BSfi-iil S-ilils lases 



g - .S « «e a o I ^ '~ 9 I * tt © H 7r '3a,gg.Sgt8 8 






I silfii I lull 1 ?i I I I I I I I I 

S OH 

H M ■< 

* -: « s s § § I S -s S 1 1 S S p a -I 1 § 3 s g £ E B 8 

•S ^ ^ -« -5 -== 1 ? ^^S 1 I a o ^^S^^a^^^S^^ 

3 "S "S a 3 S I .^S I l^o ffiTh-3^.^o.5=aoloo 



H 



S .5 o> c3 3 © I £ « I 03 S O O cSW.^O.feaoloO 



> 



I bC bfi bC bC fcfi I I |M I |f £ £ ,bf> g> bp ^ be be be , be 



.- ^ - y v ; - •- ^ - i o io° 



s^L^-^S sd^ ill's I '^s^^'S^'B'o'St* c 

P *- _^>*-N—i £d *- -©- I i "5 -^ £i s -.Q-©a>'P.,-,.0^. ri a> 

g nioosaol ^ a> 1 1 k o ^wn^o.aaoloo 

o 

O 
B 



•£ « « s§ m © I 3 o r 

§ fc o 

2 - > 

B 



I e 11113 g -§111111111 



w^.hO)(3SOW jj ^ « oj I e3 O fc^o3c3.S2o.3a©©©o 

o ° ■ % ^ § ^ 

O K - ,3 j2 .3 j3 I S g rS JS i +2 +* B S •£ T3 , +3 -3 t3 "5 +3 ■£ -H 



o 

U a 

3 S eels Si o a3s5.5ssS I Se 



<x> ci 



— a> tf 3 © iO g 8 • I «8 o § « Sra 5.S 5 S S o o 

5 .13 « to "g t- « .« i tr s 

o 5 cio3."3C.3.aOo©0 



•t3 -5 08 






&.O. 



S* a> 03 a o I v £ 5 *S el .S- 5 .b a *S S 



'& 



64 QUANTITY. 

We have now shown the essential differences of quantity in the 
simple elements of speech. There are others which arise from 
the Combination of Letters into Syllables, and Syllables into 
Words. And first — What is a syllable ? We have no non-vocal 
syllables; voice, therefore, is the first requisite; and the syllabic voice 
may be either confined to one letter, or distributed among several 
letters. The vowel part of a syllable may consist of two elements, 
— forming either a closing diphthong, as aye, owe, eye, ho?/, how, 
&c, or an opening diphthong, as ear, air, ore, jour, &c. If such 
words as fire, our, &c, which contain three vowel elements, — a 

8 

closing diphthong followed by the open sound er, — be considered 
monosyllables, then the vowel part of a syllable might be said to 
contain a triphthong ; but, when these words are fully pronounced, 
they are undoubtedly dissyllables, and perfect rhymes to higher, 
power, &c, which are never reckoned monosyllabic words. 

In colloquial speech, fire, higher, our, power, and all words of 
this formation, are frequently contracted into one syllabic impulse; 
but this is by a slurring of the vowels, so that the close elements 

1 13 

e and oo are not formed at all ; the first combination ire (7-1-8) 
is converted into ah-air (7-4-8) or (7-5-8); and the second com- 
bination our (7-13-8) is converted into ah-ore (7-11-8). From our 
account of the formation of these vowels (page 26), it will be 
found that the mouth undergoes very little increase or diminution 
of vowel-aperture in these combinations ; and consequently they 
may be uttered with such smooth indefiniteness as to blend into 
one concrete utterance, and so form but a monosyllable. Indeed, 
the whole of the possible shadings of vowel-sound between ah and 
e, or ah and oo, or conversely, might, we conceive, be flowingly 
blended into a monosyllabic utterance ; but no return from the 
closing progression to an opening one, or conversely, could take 
place without destroying the monosyllabic effect.* 

* Dr Rush, in his excellent and undervalued work, — " The Philosophy of the 
Voice," says, that "It is the concrete function of the voice which alone consti- 
tutes a syllable." By the concrete function, is meant that tapering quality of 
all spoken sounds, as distinguished from the even tenor of the sounds of song. 
These tapering and even qualities, however, have reference, not to vowel forma- 
tion, but to musical pitch. All speaking sounds thus taper, acutely or gravely, 
— while, in song, the sounds maintain, for a defiuite time, one musical note. 
The u unbroken concrete" may, however, be continued through more than one 
syllable : — for instance, in toy-ing, jo^-ous, pray-est, higA-est, sho?t'-y, &c. 
What, then, is it that syllables these words ? Is it not the necessary opening 
of the sound for the last vowel, after the closing diphthong which precedes it V 



QUANTITY. 65 

We have said that the syllabic voice may be either confined to 
one letter, or distributed among several. Thus : — Before and 
after the vowel may be placed a continuous vocal articulation. Let 

3 

us select, for an example, the vowel ai, to which let us add an 
initial and final Liquid; — thus, I ai n. This is still one syllable, 
and we may prefix and affix to it an Obstructive, — thus, bl ai nd. 
A Continuous Voice Articulation might still be added before and 
after — though we have not in English any initial continuous 
voice articulation followed by an obstructive : — this would give us 
the monosyllable zbl ai ndzh. An Obstructive might yet be 
added before and after this combination, without destroying the 
unity of the syllable, — thus, dzblaindzhd. This barbarous-look- 
ing word is not so foreign to our language as at first sight it may 
appear. With the exception of the initial dz, the combination is 
a perfectly English one. We have the final combination complete 
in such words as cringed, changed, bulged, SfC. 

The organs slide from point to point in these clustered articu- 
lations, and there is no openness in the sounds. The open con- 
tinuous elements (liquids), it will be observed, are immediately 
before and after the vowel. They could not be elsewhere without 
creating other syllables— because for them the voice has a vowel- 
openness and purity. Thus I and n often of themselves make 
syllables in English utterance, — though not in orthography, — as in 
middle, bidden, bible, even, fasten, thistle, $c* 

The liquid I may be prefixed to either of the other liquids in 
the same syllable. Thus we still write In and Im, though we no 
longer pronounce the former, and only in a few words the latter ; 
but neither of the other liquids (which are nasals) can be uttered 
before I in one syllable. The reason is, that the nasals shut the 
mouth, and are, therefore, before 7, which opens a free oral passage, 
the same as the obstructives B, D, G. We might then in- 
sert I before the n in the illustrative word we have given, and so 



* Our orthographic practice refuses to acknowledge any syllable that has 
not a vowel letter ; so when we write a vowel with the liquid, as in these words, 
the syllabic effect of the liquid is not disputed ; but if, as in spasm, rhythm, &c. 
we write no vowel, then, though the syllabic sound is the very same, we do not 
acknowledge the syllable. We giant that listen = Hs-n is a dissyllable ; but, 
with strange — ignorant — inconsistency, exclude rhyth-m from the same class, 
and call it a monosyllable. Either they are both monosyllables or both dissyl- 
lables, for their elements of sound are, letter for letter, of the same class. 



QUANTITY. 



present, as a monosyllabic combination, no fewer than five articu- 
lations after a vowel — dzblailndzhd. 

No voiceless articulations could be introduced among these vo- 
cal letters without cutting up the combination into as many sylla- 
bles ; nor could any voice-letter be inserted in a combination of 
breath-articulations without creating for every voice-articulation 
so added, a new syllable. Thus the letters spsflinktsths, in this 
arrangement, constitute a monosyllable; but separate the vocal 
articulations from the vowel, and insert them among the articula- 
tions, and the same letters will constitute a trissyllable ; — thus, 
splsfiktnsths. Both these words are capable of distinct articula- 
tion ; but it may cost the reader a little practice before he is able 
to enounce them with fluency. 

The following are all the articulative combinations which occur 
initial in English syllables. 



bw as in 


buoy 


gl as in 


glass 


si as in 


slave 


by ... 


beauty 


gr ... 


great 


sm ... 


smile 


bl ... 


blade 


kw ... 


queen 


sn ... 


snow 


br ... 


bride 


ky ... 


cue 


sf .:. 


sphere 


py ••• 


pew 


kl ... 


cleave 


sp ... 


spire 


pi ... 


place 


kr ... 


crime 


st ... 


steam 


pr ... 


price 


my ... 


muse 


sk ... 


sky 


dy ... 


due 


ny ... 


neuter 


spl ... 


spleen 


dw ... 


dwarf 


fy ... 


few 


spr . . . 


spring 


dr ... 


draw 


fl ... 


flight 


spy ... 


spume 


dzh ... 


jew 


fr ... 


fright 


str 


straw 


ty ... 


tune 


vy ... 


view 


sty ... 


stew 


tw ... 


twelve 


thw ... 


thwart 


skr ... 


scream 


tr ... 


try 


thy ... 


thew 


skw . . . 


squint 


tsh ... 


chair 


thr ... 


three 


sky ... 


skew 


gw ... 


guelph 


sw ... 


sway 


shr . . . 


shrine 


gy ••• 


gewgaw 


sy ... 


sue 







In the table at page 63, our main object was to show the ef- 
fect of the articulations on the vowel quantities. The following 
table of the Articulative Combinations which are Final in English 
syllables, will show the numerous degrees of Syllabic Quantity 
which arise entirely from these constituents. 

Quantity is generally considered to have reference to Vowels 
only ; but if it is intended to mean the duration of the enuncia- 
tive process, it must include Articulations also. The practice of 
the following table will be found extremely useful in giving dis- 
tinctness and fluency of articulation. The test of correctness is, 
— Hear every letter. 



QUANTITY. 67 

The Liquids, — or, as their functions in syllables would rather 
require them to be called, transparent letters, — before a single final 
articulation, give the next degree of quantity greater than that 
of the single articulation : double articulations are the next 
longer ; then liquids before double articulations ; then treble arti- 
culations ; next liquids before treble articulations, and so on. But 
as the articulations are not all of the same duration, their com- 
binations present a great many slighter differences of quantity. 
The Liquids are so thin a veil before Breath Articulations that 
they hardly for an instant intercept our view of the adjoining 
letter ; — before Voice Articulations they become more massive, 
and two liquids are the longest double articulations in the language. 

Let the student prefix a vowel to the combinations in the follow- 
ing tables — long or short, but the same vowel throughout — and 
let him read them in the order in which we have arranged them, 
and he will be able to trace the nice gradations which connect by 
no less than twenty-one steps, the English extremes of voiceless combi- 
nations — sick and sixths ; and by eighteen, the vocal combinations in 
hid and hinged. 

TERMINATIONAL SYLLABIC COMBINATIONS OF BREATH ARTICULATIONS. 

Note. — The letter C, signifies continuous ; [(CI.) close; (Op.) open-] and 0, 
obstructive, — referring to our classification of the Articulations at page 11. 
d f 

o I 

^'■5 I 1.0. p, t, k. as in step, shape, fit, site, ark, black, &c. 

.5 3 i 

co -J | 2. C. f, th s, sh, ... if, laugh, path, both, miss, gas, 

h ! wash, &c, 

— f 

go a 3 o ( lp ; It, Ik, lit, ... help, felt, wilt, milk, elk, teut, aunt, 

35 -2 ( mp, mt, ngk, lamp, jump, dreamt, tempt, ink, &c. 

33 I 

3 



| If, Is, 1th, lsh, ... self, gulf, golf, health, wealth, else, 
4. C. <nth,ns, pulse, Welsh, ninth, plinth, once, 

( mf, ngth, dance, nymph, strength, length, &c. 



f 5. 0. pt, kt, ... apt, leaped, tripped, act. walked, &c. 



.2 I 6. O. ) { ps, pth, ts, tth, ... steps, whips,depth,boats, feats, eighth, 
3 | C. j (tsh, ks, watch, search, ox, axe, backs,corks,&c. 



7. C. 
an 



O. ) ( ps, pth, 

ind I i 

C. ) ( tsh, ks, 

md 1 ft, S p, st, sk, ... ^ P ^ e / 3 WHSP ' faSt ' gUeSSGd ' ■*,' 



g q c ^ it safes, life's, fifth, death's, broths, 

' ' ' '" coughs, &c. 



< 

Is 

a 



QUANTITY. 

f 9 j lpt, lkt, nipt, us in gulped, milked, stamped, inked, banked, 

( ngkt, succinct, &c. 

10. 0. I lP s * l ts > ^ sn - ••• Alps, whelps, bolts, waltz, belch, milch, 
and * ^ S ' nts ' n * sn > bulks, silks, prints, chants, French, inch, 
£ f mps, mts, imps, romps, tempts, shrinks, thanks, &c. 

* 1 ngks, 

11. C. Tift, 1st, ... ingulfed, fail'st, tell'st, against, 
and -J nst, mst, mean'st, feign'3t, dream'st, com'st, 

0. (^ngst, sing'st, bring'st, &c. 

12 r i ^ s > ^ ns > n ^ ns ' ...gulfs, sylphs, healths, tenths, plinths, 

\ mfs, ngths, nymphs, lengths, &c. 

13. Dble. 



3. Dble. f 
O. and < pts, kts, 



adepts, Copts, acts, sects, expec's, &c. 



3 



-,' \ J pst, tst, tsht, ... shap'st, hop'st, sat'st, got'st, patched, 
' \ 1 kst, broached, look'st, next, &c. 

Dble.*C.{ tths ' ...eighths. 
16. C. 



6. C. f ft 

0.andJ ft8 ' s P s > ' 
C. I > 

.17. C. | fths, ... fifths 



efts, thefts, asps, costs, wastes, asks, desks, 
husks, &c. 



| » ! 18. 0. f lpst, ltst, Itsht, ... help'st, halt'st, filched, milk'st, 
£ .2 C. j lkst,ntst, ntsht, want'st, hint'st, blenched, 

o "S J and J mpst, mtst, flinched, limp'st, attempt 'st, 

^ = J 0. tngkst, think'st, drank'st, &c. 

•^<5 ', 19. C, lfths, ... twelfths. 

Q-o j O. &C. 1 ksts ' — texts - 

111 21. o. r 

C?* 3 I and-Jksths, ...sixths. 

< [TrbLC. t 

TERMtNATIONAL SYLLABIC COMBINATIONS OF VOICE ARTICULATIONS. 

= J 1. 0. b, d, g, as in babe, mob, bad, trade, egg, plague, &c. 

5P-S -| i 2.C1. f v, th, z, zh, ... leave, of, with, bathe, ease, as, buzz, rouge, 
S3' J o &c- 



3. Op. [\, m, n, ng, ... ail, ell, isle, am, hymn, on, sing, tongue, &c. 

wo a J 4 O S U>« 1( 1, mD > m(1 j ••• a * D ' bulb. olc *j willed, build, rhomb, hem- 
s' J ( nd, ngd, med, and, finned, hanged, bunged, &c. 

at . - J lv, Iz, mz, nz, ... delve, evolve, ells, palls, aims, comes, 
\ ngz, bronze, ens, longs, pangs, &c. 



5 * r 



QUANTITY. 69 

C 6 O. bd, gd, as in ribbed, stabbed, begged, wigged, &c. 

7. O. fbz, dz, dzh, ... cabs, tubs, adze, heads, odds, edge, budge, 
and-j 

C. I gz, eggs, lags, &c. 

8. C. fvd, thd, zd, ... saved, lived, seethed, writhed, grazed, used, 
and -J 

O. (^zhd, rouged, &c. 

9. CI. fvz, thz, ... graves, loaves, withes, bathes, &c. 



1 9. CI. fvz, t 
! ( 10. Op. Llm, 



03 



helm, film, culm, &c. 

fll.O. lbd, ...bulbed. 

12. O. f lbz, ldz, ldzh, ... bulbs, folds, builds, bilge, rhumbs, lands, 
and C. ( mbz, ndz, ndzh, finds, fringe, change, &c. 

13.C.&0. lvd, nzd. ... delved, involved, bronzed, &c. 

14.C (cl.) lvz, ... shelves, wolves, &c. 



i~\ is. c. (op.)r 

* •« & -J lmd, ... helmed, overwhelmed, &c. 

1U o. L 



•* 1 16. c. (op.) r 

& -{ lmz, ... films, elms, &c. 

I c. (ci.) l 

£~ i 

8 "-I } C &0 { dzhd ' "' J ud & ed > besie g ed > &c - 



r& U 



r 



3 



< { 16. 0. f ldzhd, ... bilged, &c 

•| » | C. & O. \ ndzhd, changed, hinged, &c. 



I 

MIXED ARTICULATIONS. 

From what we have said (page 65) on the component 
elements of syllables, it will be evident that voice articulations 
cannot follow breath ones in the same syllable, but that breath 
articulations may follow vocal ones. The following mixed com- 
binations (besides the Liquids already given in the first part of 
this table) are all that occur in English. 

1 dth, as in width, breadth. 

2 bst, dst, gst, ... brib'st, bidd'st, midst, hugg'st, &c. 
r 3 vst, thst, ... wav'st, striv'st, sooth'st, &c. 

4 ldst, ... hold'st, &c. 

5 lvst, ... delv'st, &c. 



70 



QUANTITY. 



A further variety of syllabic quantities arises from the Combi- 
nation of Syllables into Words. 

An accented syllable — whatever its constituent elements- 
followed by one unaccented, is shorter than a monosyllable con- 
taining the same elements ; followed by two unaccented syllables, 
it is still shorter ; by three, shorter still ; and so on, it decreases 
in quantity, as its terminational unaccented syllables increase in 
number. Thus, lit, litter, literal, literally. If we repeat the 
monosyllable in its ordinary degree of time, we shall find that we 
can pronounce the dissyllable, trissyllable, or quadrisyllable in 
the same time. This may be well tested by accompanying the 
accent by a beat of the hand. 

It is further to be observed, that the accented syllable is longer 
when the syllable next to it begins with an articulation, than 
when it begins with a vowel. A comparison of love, lovely, love- 
liness, with love, loving, lovingly, will manifest this. Subjoined 
are a few instances of each vowel before the different classes of 
articulations, followed by one, two, and three unaccented syllables. 

Instances of the first three classes are shown with both vowels 
and articulations following the accent. 





short : 


MONOPHTHONGS. 




cit 


fcity 
( citron 


citizen 


citizenship 




situate 


situated 


pet 


J petty 
t petrel 


petticoat 


petticoated 


petrify 


petrifying 


hap 


J happy 
( haply 


happiness 


appetency 


haplessness 




but 


1 butter 
I buttress 


buttery 


butteriness 


butlership 




mock 


i mocking 
\ doctrine 


mockingly 


mockableness 


doctrinal 


doctrinally 


book 


J bookish 
( bookless 


bookishness 




bookseller 




fish 


, fishes 
■J fishpond 
t blessing 
"J destine 


fishery 


missionary 


fishmonger 








bless 


blessedness 


necessary 


destinate 




ass 


f acid 
\ aspect 


asinine 


asinary 




asperate 




stuff 


i suffer 
"J suffrage 


sufferer 


sufferingly 


suffragan 


suffragator 


froth 


r frothy 
"J clothwork 


frothily 




clolhmerchant 




hush 


i bushel 
| bushman 


bushelage 




bushranger 





rib 

ebb 
mad 

mud 

dog 

wood 

with 

live 

says 

as 

love 

fin 

cell 
ham 
cull 
long- 
full 



mast 

naught 

flute 

leaf 
laugh 

luce 

greed 
daub 
fugue 



pause 
soothe 



feel 
dream 
brawn 
room 



cape 
part 
cirque 





QUANTITY. 




J ribbon 
( tribune 


liberty 


liberally 


tribuneship 


tributary 


f ebbing 


ebony 




\ febrile 


febrifuge 


February 


t madam 
( madman 


madefy 




madrigal 


magistracy 


i muddy 
\ bloodless 


muddiness 




bloodlessly 




j dogger 
\ dogma 


doggerel 




dogmatize 


dogmatiser 


J woody 
( woodland 


woodiness 


woodoffering 


woodpecker 




wither 


withering 


witheringly 


livid 


lividness 


liveryman 


resin 


resinous 




azote 


azimuth 




loving- 


lovingly 




bother 


bothering 


botheringly 


finish 


finical 


finically 


cellar 


celery 


celibacy 


hammer 


amity 


amicably 


cullis 


colander 




longing- 


longingly 




fuller 


fullery 




LONG MONOPHTHONGS. 




sleepy 


sleepiness 




master 


mastery 


masterliness 


naughty 


naughtiness 




mucus 


muculent 




leafy 


leaflness 




laughing- 


laughingly 




author 


authorize 


authorize!- 


lucid 


lucfdness 




greedy 


greedily 




dauber 


daubery 




fug-uist 


fugleman 




easy 


easiness 




pausing 


plausible 


plausiblcncss 


soothing 


soothingly 




leisure 


leisurely 


leisurable 


feeling 


feelingly 




dreamy 


dreamily 




brawny 


brawnily 




roomy 


roominess 

DIPHTHONGS. 




caper 


capering 


caperingly 


partagc 


partible 


partitively 


circle 


circumstance 


circumflexes 



71 



n 





QUANTITY. 




carp 


carpet 


carpenter 




lurk 


lurker 


lurking-place 




short 


shorten 


hortative 


hortatory 


pork 


porker 


porkeater 




oak 


oaken 


oakapple 




might 


mighty 


mightiness 




doit 


loiter 


loiterer 


loiterngly 


doubt 


doubter 


doubtingly 




race 


racy 


raciness 




marsh 


marshal 


marshalling 




earth 


earthy 


earthiness 




curse 


cursing 


cursory 


cursorily 


corse 


corset 


sorcery 







portion 


portiouist 




oaf 


oafish 


oafishness 




rife 


rifle 


rifleman 




house 


household 


householder 




hoist 


oyster 


boisterous 


boisterously 


babe 


baby 


babyhood 


ablebodied 


hard 


hardy 


hardihood 




herb 


herbage 


herbalist 




word 


murder 


murderous 


murderously 


orb 


orbit 


orbitude 




board 


boarder 


boarding-school 




rogue 


roguish 


roguery 




— 


tiger 


tiger-shell 




void 


voidance 


voidable 




proud 


prouder 


powdery 




save 


savour 


savoury 


savouriness 


air 


airy 


airiness 




large 


largess 


argentine 




serve 


service 


servitude 


serviceable 


urge 


urgent 


urgently 




gorge 


gorgeous 


gorgeously 




forge 


forger 


forgery 




rose 


rosy 


rosary 




tithe 


tithing 


tithable 




mouth (v.) 


mouther 


mouthingly 




noise 


noisy 


noisiness 




tail 


tailor 


tailoring 




arm 


army 


armament 




firm 


firman 


firmament 




turn 


turner 


turnery 




morn 


morning 


ornament 




mourn 


mourning 


mourningly 




soul 


solar 


drollery 




own 


owner 


ownership 




isle 


island 


islander 




join 


joiner 


joinery 




frown 


frowning 


frowningly 





QUANTITY. 73 

We have now shown the differences of quantity essential in the 
separate elements of speech ; and the quantitative influence of 
Articulations on Vowels, and of Unaccented on Accented Syllables. 
The influence of another vowel immediately succeeding the ac- 
cented one, as in theatre, drawing, &c, remains to be noticed. 
If we compare any words of this class with others which have the 
shortest articulation interposed between the vowels, — as, 

seeing, fluid, sawest, 

seated, fluted, soughtest, 

we shall find, that while the words in the first line allow of greater 
duration on the accented vowel (when under emphasis) than those 
in the second, yet in their ordinary pronunciation, the vowels are 
shorter in the first than in the second class of words. The judge 
of this is of course the ear ; to it, in confirmation of our assertion, 
we appeal. 

In order to test this fairly, however, it will be necessary to com- 
pare the words — not separately, but in a sentence, that they may 
have their ordinary colloquial quantity ; for as the words of the 
first class more easily bear an increased quantity than those of 
the second, they would be very liable to receive an unconscious 
addition in separate comparison. Test them in the following 
sentences : — 

Seeing you seated here, I came to you. 

Lucky fellow ! thou sawest that for which thou soughtest not. 

That fluted glass looks very like a streaming fluid. 

As a general principle, then, we should say, that accented 
monophthong vowels preceding another vowel, are shorter than 
when they are before any articulation. Not so, however, diph- 
thongal vowels, — as in grey-ish, joy-ous, flow-ing, &c, these, when 
fully pronounced, are as long before a vowel as before a voice- 
articulation. 



In the preceding Quantitative Tables we have shown the nature 
and extent of our Articulative Combinations. To complete the 
view of English Elementary Compounds, we shall now exhibit an 
arrangement of our 

Vowel Combinations. 
The English language is usually supposed to be more deficient 
of vowel combinations than it really is. Examination may show 

K 



74 QUANTITY. 

that it has more vowel quality than it generally gets credit for. 
It certainly has a great proportion of articulations, and long — 
because final — clusters of these elements ; but they give it a 
strength and dignity in utterance, for which euphonious vowel- 
smoothness would but ill compensate. The apparent scarcity of 
vowels, however, arises in great part from the rude way in which 
these soft elements are slurred, and curtailed of their " fair pro- 
portion" by our speakers. Let them be fully given, with all their 
tapering qualities, and softly blending in their combinations, with- 
out careless elisions and clippings, and the English Tongue will 
be found to possess as much of vowel-euphony as is consistent with 
the masculine character of its utterance. 

We have collected a few instances of our Vowel-Combinations, 
— accented and unaccented, — which we commend to the student's 
tasteful practice. The perfect enunciation of these combinations, 
without either of the sounds being impaired in quality, is one of 
the neatest acts of speech, and a sure criterion of the cultivation 
of a reader. 



Vowels 1-1. Caries, congeries, minutiae, periseci, pre-elect, sanies, series. 
1-2. Being, seeing, zeine, deity, theism, deism, cuneiform, deicide, 

corporeity, nereid, howbeit, seity, spontaneity, velleity, 

reiterate, atheist. 
1-3. Create, creator, reagent, enunciation, verbiage, ideate, 

permeate, affiliation, lineage, depreciate, initiate, excoriate, 

foliage, malleate, muriate, obviate, recreate, satiate. 
1-4. Re-echo, arietta, Vienna, acquiesce, oriental, pre-eminent, 

siesta, ambient, requiem, inscience, orient, lenient. 
1-5. Ideal, psean, Sabean, pharisean, react, zodiac, myriad, 

pancreas, lineal, dealbate, meander, genealogy, adamantean, 

alias, encomiast, bronchial, burial, cardialgy, caveat, anteact. 
1-6. Agreeable, screable, cochleary, theatre, aviary, zea, diarrhoea, 

dulia, mania, dyspnoea, malleable, nausea, scoria, trachea. 
1-7. Dearticulate, pianist, linear. 
1-8. Near, bier, deer, appear, cheerful, afeard, veneer, barrier, 

moneyer, courier, glacier, rapier. 
1-9. Theurgy, lyceum, mausoleum, museum, idiot, idiom, curious, 

permeous, cupreous, axiom, amphibious, calcareous, carneous, 

furious, geranium, igneous. 
1-1 0. Deaurate, geology, oeolipile, areotic, areometer, ebriosity, 

curiosity, georgic, geotic, heliolatry, meteoric, periodical, 

teleology, deobstruct, junior, senior, meteor. 



QUANTITY. 75 

Vowels 1-12. Leo, peony, zeolite, pleonasm, graveolent, deodand, geode, 
scagliola, embryo, neoteric, helioscope, aposiopesis, ratio, 
seraglio, urceolate. 
1-7-1. Radii, Agnus-Dei. 
1.10-1. Helioid, cardioid. 
1-12-1. Vitreo- electric. 

The third element, it will be remembered, is a diphthongal 

1 2 

sound. Its finishing quality of e, or before very open vowels of i, 
must in all cases be heard, — often with extreme delicacy of 
shading ; but the total omission of it is un-English. 

Vowels 3-1. Aerial, phaeton. 

3-2. Playing, grayish, laity, mosaic,tr ochaic, hebraic, clayey, 

judaical, hebraist, archaism, Judaism. 
3-4. Obeyest, weigheth, prayest. 
3-5. Naiad, abeyance, conveyance. 
3-6. Affraiable, weighable. 
3-8. Weigher, player, gayer, delayer. 
3-10. Aorta, archaiology, chaos, chaotic. 
3-11. Aorist. 
..». 3-12. Aonian, kaolin. 

3-7-1. Grey-eyed, hebraize, judaize. 

The 4th English vowel occurs initial in but one combination, 
— 4-8, as in air, heir, ere, prayer, care. &c. 

Note — In Scotland, a diphthong compounded of 4-1 or 4-2, is commonly 
heard instead of 7-1 > in my, buy, sigh, &c. 

The 5th vowel (an) with the 12th or 13th, is often heard 
among English speakers, instead of the more open vowel which 
correctly forms the first sound of the diphthong ou. Thus, bough, 
thou, how, &c. are pronounced with 5-13, ba-oo, tha-oo, &c. 
There is a mincing effect of affectation in this peculiarity. 

Vowels 7-1. Buy, try, sigh, I, fye, lie. 
7-13. How, noun, drought. 
7-1-1. Hyena, hyemal, empyema, trieterical, syenite, dietetic, diesis 

quietus, stria?. 
7-1-2. Buying, sighing, dying, trying, thyine, skyey, shyish. 
7-1-4. Buyest , dieth, science, quiescent, dioeresis, scientific, lien, client 
(variety, quiet, notoriety, piety, propriety, ubiety.) 

Note. — The words within brackets are often — if not gene- 
rally — pronounced 7-1-2. In Scotland, they are 
contracted into 7-1, and pronounced jmh.ecty, 
varah~eety, &c. 



76 QUANTITY. 

Vowels 7-1-5. Diameter, iambus, dialogist. eyas, sciatica, biangulons, bins, 
sialogogue, alliance, phial, elegiac, sciagraphy, trial. 
7-1-6. Via, viaduct, diapason, pianet, friable, striature, siriasis. 
7-1-8. Fire, crier, dyer, trierarch, dire, briery, fiery. 
7-1-9. Orion, lion, pious, triumph, scion, iron, triumphal, diurnal. 
7-1-10. Ionic, triobolar, myology, scioptic, dioptrics, diorthosis, prior. 
7-1-12. Iodine, violent, trio, sciolist, pioneer, myopy, bryony, invio- 
lable, diocese, violin, meionite, meiosis. 
7-13-1. Advowee. 

7-13-2. Ploughing, allowing, vowing. 
7-13-4. Allowest, voweth, vowel, bowel, rowel, towel. 
7-13-5. Allowance, avowal. 

7-13-8. Our, power, shower, dowery, hour-glass, towering. 
... 7-1-7-1. Dry-eyed. 

10-1. Boy, oil, noise, adroit, conoidical, avoid, soil, alloyed, join, 

point. 
10-2. Sawing, pawing, drawing, flawy, gnawing, rawish, thawing, 

moiety. 
10-4. Drawest, gnaweth, sawest. 
10-5. Withdrawal. 
10-8. Drawer, rawer, war. 
10-1-2. Boyish, enjoying, annoying, toying, coyish, cloying, 
10-1-3. Voyage. 

10-1-4. Destroyest, joyeth, employcst, annoyeth. 
10-1-5. Buoyance, annoyance, royal, royalty. 
10-1-8. Employer, alloyer, coyer. 



The 12th vowel, like the 3rd, is diphthongal. With less or 
more distinctness its compound quality should be heard in every 
combination in careful reading. Colloquially, however, —and es- 
pecially before very open vowels,— the more open and simple o is 

12 

used instead of o-oo. Care must be taken that the lips do not too 
much modify the 12th vowel, or there will be a tendency to pro- 
duce the articulation iv, instead of the vowel oo, before another 
vowel. 



Vowels 12-1. Coeval, proemial, orthoepist. 

12-2. Stoic, owing, doughy, coincidence, poet, poetry, heroine. 

12-3. Boation, acroamatical. 

12-4. Owest, knowcth, proem, poetical, aloetics, coheir, coefficarr. 

soever. 
12-5, Coagulate, coadjutor, coagment. coadunition, salsoacid, 

retroaction. 



QUANTITY. 77 

Vowels 1 2-6. Oasis, zedoary, proa, boa, coacervatc . 
12-7. Coarct, coarctation. 
12-8. Coerce, lower, mower, borrower. 
12-10. Co-operate, zoology, zoography, co-ordinate, co-optation. 
12-12. Zoolite, zoophyte. 
12-7-1. Polychroite. 

13-2. Bruit, wooing, truism, druid, fluid, dewy, ruin, fortuitous, im- 
puissance, puissant, assiduity, pituitary, comminuible ; Jesuit, 
Jesuitical. 
13-3. Sinuate. 
13-4. Cruel, fluent, duel, incruental, inuendo, circumfluence, affluent, 

minuet. 
13-5. Pursuant, renewal, truant, accentual, casual, manual, mutual. 
13-6. Suable, pursuable, estuary, mantua, mulctuary. 
13-8. Brewer, tour, your, cure, poor-house, moorish, reviewer, 

durable, mure, lure, surely. 
13-9. Sinuous, innocuous, assiduous, vacuum, fatuous. 
13-10. Fluor, sinuosity, impetuosity. 
13-12. Actuose. 
13-7-1. Pituite. 



PART SECOND. 



DICTIONARY OF ENGLISH SOUNDS. 



SECTION FIRST— VOWELS. 
In the former part of this work, we have developed the theory 
of Vowel and Articulate Formations. We shall now proceed to 
make some Practical Observations on each of the elements of 
English Speech, and to furnish a series of Exercises, in the prac- 
tice of which the student will find the certain means of his im- 
provement, whether in Distinctness of Articulation, the Anglicis- 
ing of Provincial Characteristics, or the Removing of Individual 
Faults of Utterance. 

The arrangement of the Vowel Exercises is as follows : — 
First, Words are given, containing the sound under considera- 
tion in unaccented syllables : the unaccented vowels are printed 
in italics. 

Note. — The exact sounds of the vowels should be heard as distinctly in their 
shortest forms, as in the longest. The perfect preservation of the characteristic 
sounds of the vowels in unaccented syllables furnishes the most unmistakeable 
evidence of a cultivated pronunciation. 

Secondly, Words in which the sound is accented ; I. Before 
a Vowel ; II. Before Breath Articulations, or Liquids followed 
by Breath Articulations ; III. Before Voice Articulations fol- 
lowed by a Vowel ; IV. Before Double or Final Voice Articula- 
tions ; V. Final. 

Thirdly, Words which are distinguished by the sound from other 
words, with which, in careless utterance, they are liable to be con- 
founded. 

Fourthly, Words of identical sound, but various orthography. 



FIRST VOWEL. 79 

The following Table of English Monophthongs and Diphthongs, 
shows the order in which we shall treat of the Vowels, and arrange 
the Exercises on each. 

as in educe, element, exuvice, sheepfold, beam- 
less, bee. ^^ 
impose, verily, differ, dimness, 
agate, acre, ague, gay. 
embrace, empty, embers, 
erewhile, ere. 
admire, action, admiral, 
arouse, academic, sofa, master, baths, 
partake, partial, pardon, papa, 
idea, lightly, mindful, sky. 
however, doubtful, loudly, how. 
herbaceous, martur, certain, thirdly, sir. 

supply, cutler, cudgel. 

curtail, curtain, curdle. 

obtain, donkey, dogma. 

austere, auction, auburn, awe. 

boisterous, boiled, boy. 

portray, porter, boarder, adore. 

omit, disobey, also, motion, moulding, 
mow. 

footman, should. 

utility, ague, bootlace, shooed. 



No. 


Vowel. 


I. 


1, as in 


II. 


2, 


III. 


3, 


IV. 


J (short,) . . . 
M(long,) ... 


V. 


5, 


VI. 


6, 


VII. 


7, 


VIII. 


M, 


IX. 


7-13, 


X. 


8, 


XI. 


J (short,) ... 
y ' I (long,) ... 


XII. 


f (short,) ... 


XIII. 


10-1, 


XIV. 


n, 


XV. 


12, 


XVI. 


((short,) .. 
lt5 't(long,) .. 



FIRST VOWEL. 

Observations. — This is the Alphabetic sound of E in English, and of I in 
the French and other continental tongues. It is the closest of the Lingual 
Vowels. In its formation, the tongue rises convexly within the arch of the 
palate, and presses laterally against the palate and back-teeth, leaving only a very 
narrow aperture for the voice, between the middle of the tongue and palate. 

A very common fault in the formation of this vowel consists in the depres- 
sion of the point of the tongue to the lower teeth — a position which, besides 
being injurious to the quality of the vowel, is unfavourable to the action of the 
tongue for many of the Articulations. The tongue must be kept back, and its 
point directed horizontally, to guide the sound out of the mouth without striking 
the teeth. The teeth must, of course, be sufficiently apart : they should, for 
no vowel, have a less opening than a quarter or a third of an inch. 



80 FIRST VOWEL. 

Many persons tail to pronounce this vowel with purity, when it is under 
emphasis, especially when final : as in " to be or not to be," " me miserable," 
" they shall be free," "to sleep, perchance to dream." The breath is heard 
rustling in the mouth, from too close organic approximation. To correct this, 
pronounce words ending with e, and divell on the vowel for some time, observ- 
ing that the tongue is kept perfectly still until the sound be finished in the 
glottis. 

In Scotland this vowel is generally deficient in openness and quantity : the 
e in meet, mean, &c, being sounded almost as abruptly as that in mechanic. In 
many cases, the 3rd vowel, but very short, and without the English diphthongal 
termination, is substituted for the 1st ; thus meal, steal, deal, &c, are pro- 
nounced male, stale, dale, &c. This peculiarity seems to be almost confined 
to words spelled with ea. 

A similar exchange of vowels takes place in Ireland ; but such words as 
sweet, chief, scheme, &c, where the sound is variously represented, partake 
of the peculiarity. The Irish sound is more open and prolonged than the Scotch ; 
and its vocality is less pure, being mixed with the articulative Aspiration which 
is characteristic of the Irish dialect. 

Exercises. 
Note. — Vowel 1, is seldom exactly sounded in an unaccented syllable imme- 
diately after the accent, as in appetite, antitheses, penetrate, &c. In such 
cases it is very liable to take the more open and easier form of the 2nd Vowel. 
Before the accent, however, as in edition, beseech, precocious, return, &c, the 
1st formation must always be carefully preserved. 

Unaccented. — aberuncate, acetate, adequate, eetites, aggelation, 
aggregate, algebra, alias, allegory, ambergris, ambient, anemo- 
meter, anhelation, antelope, antemetic, antenna, antipodes, appre- 
hend, arian, assuetude, atheist, aviary, axiom ; because, before, 
behold, below, beneath, beseech, bereft, between, beware, beyond ; 
create, credulity ; dealbate, deaurate, debar, December, decision, 
defunct, dehort, deintegrate, delay, demand, demy, deoxydate, 
deposit, derision, descend, detaiu, develop ; ebriety, eclipse, 
edition, elastic, elicit, emaciate, emit, enervate, enough, eolic, 
eolian, epistle, equator, erect, espouse, evade, event, expiate, 
exuvice ; fecundity, felicity ; generic, geotic, geology ; here- 
ditary, heroic ; lethargic, levant ; meander, mechanic, me- 
mento, meretricious, metropolis ; necessity, nefarious, negation, 
neology ; orient, obsequies ; peculiar, pedantic, penult, pepastic, 



FIRST VOWKL. 81 

preamble, precede, precipitate, precocious, predict, prefer, pre-emi- 

ent, prehensile, preliminary, premium, prenunciation, preoccupy, 

prepare, prerogative, prescind, preserve, pretend, prevail; react, 

reality, rebellion, receive, recover, redundant, regard, rehearse, 

reiterate, rejoice, relapse, religion, remember, remonstrate, renew, 

renown, repair, reprehend, republic, request, research, resolve, 

resource, result, retail, return, revere, revisit, reward, rhetorical ; 

secession, secrete, secure, sedate, select, senescence, setaceous, 

severity, stereotype ; temerity, terreous, theatrical, theocracy, 

tremendous ; vegetate, vehement, velocity, veranda ; zetetic. 

Note. — R, after long vowels, has the sound of the 8th vowel, (as in sir). Its 
1 
combination with e will therefore give the diphthong 1-8. The omission of 

the 8th vowel from such words as ear, here, cheer, &c. is a Scotticism. There 

l 
is, besides, a harshness in the junction of e with the articulative effect of R, 
which is gracefully avoided by the interposition of the open element which is 
always heard in English. 

Care must be taken to avoid the intervention of any similar sound between 
i 
e and L or N : the habit of inserting another vowel in this situation prevails in 

Scotland ; but these articulations must be directly joined to the simple and un- 
changed vowel. 

Accented. — I. Adhere, aerial, albeit, apotheosis, appear, aureola, 

eneid, idea, cheerful, unreal, really, sphere, weary, fierce, pierce, 

shire, zero, we're, pier, rear, bier. 

II. Reaf, chief, leaf, belief ; eke, apeak, unique, seek, speaker, 
pique, weakness ; steeple, deep, people, keeper, heap, weep ; 
antceci, apiece, auxecis, east, easter, exegesis, obese, fleece, 
priesthood, police, pelisse, increase; accretion, appreciate, specious; 
acetous, excrete, feature, meetness, sweet, treaty, conceit, seat, 
veto ; appeach, beech, preacher, leeches, teaching ; ethiop, ether, 
heath, wreath, teeth. 

III. Abstemious, adhesion, leisure, seizure, aegis, alleviate, 
amphisbcena, aphelion, arena, arundelian, eagle, easy, edict, 
either, emir, enfeeble, even, evil, expedient, illegal, feasible, in- 
gredient, mediate, oedema, feeling, ingenious, pleasing, reason, 
sheathing, penal, tedious, meagre, peevish, abbreviate. 

L 






FIRST VOWEL. 



IV. Glebe ; antecede, meed, agreed, keyed, plead ; league, 
fatigue ; liege, siege ; eel, field, congeal, yield, reel, meal, anneal, 
beam, scheme, scream, supreme, esteem, theme, disme ; e'en, 
fiend, keen, mien, visne, ween, scene, meanness, clean ; breathe, 
sheathe ; ease, seize, these, degrees, appease, breeze, frieze ; eve, 
leave, achieve, aggrieve, eaves. 

V. Be, flee, key, lea, lessee, knee, quay, tea, free, sea, agree, 
glee, appellee, trustee, ennui, etui, three, ye, we, thee. 

Distinguish between 



ablegate and 


abligate 


elusion 


and illusion 


allegation . . . 


alligation 


elusive 


illusive 


deduction . . . 


diduction 


emerge 


immerge 


descent 


dissent 


emission 


immission 


deviser 


divisor 


emaculate 


immaculate 


decertation ... 


dissertation 


emersion 


immersion 


deform 


dhTorm 


enate 


innate 


elaborate 


illaborate 


enumerate 


annumerate 


elapse 


illapse 


eradiate 


irradiate 


elicit 


illicit 


eruption 


irruption 


elation 


illation 


legation 


ligation 


elude 


illude 


diesis 


diocese 



Words of the same Pronunciation, but different Orthography. 



be 


chagrin 


feat 


leak 


bee 


shagreen 


feet 


leek 


beach 


creak 


fees 


least 


beech 


creek 


feaze 


leased 


bean 


crease 


flee 


lee 


been 


creese 


flea 


lea 


beat 


dear 


freeze 


mean 


beet 


deer 


frieze 


mien 


beer 


deem 


here 


mete 


bier 


disme 


hear 


meat 


ceiling 


demean 


key 


meet 


sealing 


demesne 


quay 


need 


cere 


discreet 


kneel 


knead 


sear 


discrete 


neal 


peace 


seer 






piece 



SECOND VOWEL. 83 



peak 


queen 


seed 


tear 


pique 


quean 


cede 


tier 


peal 


read 


sweet 


weak 


peel 


reed 


suite 


week 


peer 


seem 


sheer 


weal 


pier 


seam 


shear 


wee'll 


please 


see 


teem 


weald 


pleas 


sea 


team 


wield 






SECOND VOWEL. 





Observations. — This sound we are inclined to consider almost as a charac- 
teristic of the English language, from its frequent occurrence in English, and 
its comparatively little use in other modern languages. It has been generally 
reckoned the short form of the 1st vowel, — but erroneously. The shortest 

1 
utterance of e will be a distinctly different sound from this, which, as its position 

i 3 
in our table indicates, is a formation intermediate to those of e and a. The 

l 
tongue, from its position at e, is depressed for the 2nd vowel, about half way 

3 

to its position for a, — as careful experiment will manifest. 

There is no longer form of this vowel in English, than that of the word 
hinge / but the prolongation of the sound is of course quite practicable. 

The second vowel is not heard in English before R, final or followed by any 
articulation : the 8th vowel is substituted in these cases. When the R is 
followed by another vowel, as in mirror, miracle, &c. the i has generally the 
sound of the second vowel, — as before other articulations. 

In Scotland, we hear, instead of this vowel, a peculiar and more open sound, 
nearly approaching to that of the 4th English Vowel, being a formation inter- 
mediate to the 3rd and 4th. This will be found noted in our General Scheme, 
(page 28) as the 4th of the Lingual series. 

Among Northern speakers, ambitious of an English enunciation, but who have 
been taught to believe that the vowels ee(l) and i(\\ are identical in formation, 
we frequently hear the 1st instead of the 2nd vowel, as in vision, condition, 
suspicion, &c, pronounced veesion, condeetion, suspeecion, &c. This need 
not any longer be a mark of Northern English, for there is no difficulty in pro- 
ducing the true sound of the English element when once its formation is under- 
stood. 

The 2nd vowel is common enough in Scotch under another form. It is heard 
instead of the short sound of the French u, (The 3rd Labio-lingual vowel, 
G. V. S. page 28), which is vernacular in Scotland. Thus the word gude, 
(good) is in many districts, pronounced exactly like the first syllable in giddy : 



64 SECOND VOWEL. 

and, where tin* custom prevails, we hear the sound opened into a(3) in long 
syllables, as in do, pronounced da, (without the English diphthongal quality ;) 
thus practically illustrating and corroborating our remark at page 30 on the 
tendency of «(2) to be lengthened into a(3) rather than into e(l). We have 
besides numerous instances in English of «(3) being shortened into i(2), as in 
the final syllables of carriage, marriage, cabbage, orange, &c., pronounced 
idge, inge, &c. 

2 3 

In the Irish dialect we have i, opened into a, and sometimes into the proxi- 
mate Scotch vowel noticed above. Thus ill is by Irish speakers pronounced 
nearly like ale in English, his like haze, forgive like forga ve, &c. 

In the unaccented terminations, il, in, ive, &c., we generally hear Element 

9 in Ireland ; as in peril, motive, genuine, &c, which are pronounced nearly 

as if spelled perwZ, motwr, genu?*/?, &c. Another Irish peculiarity is to sound 

1 2 11 2 

Y final, unaccented, like e instead of i, as pretty, many, &c. for pretty, 

2 

many, &c. 

Exercises. 

Unaccented. — Abdicate, abditive, accident, acrid, admonish, 
ndventive, agile, agitate, agonism, algid, alkali, airy, ashy, ambit, 
amicable, amice, amortise, amplitude, anaglyph, analysis, anguish, 
animal, anise, antidote, architect, argentine, article, assassin, 
auspice, axis, baby, bony, booty, bushy, busy, beauties, bodies, 
critic, caitiff, cherubim, captain, curtain, certain, cockatrice, 
condwit, creditable, chary, cherry, dervis, dreamy, duty, daisy, 
edible, egotism, eighty, aegis, evitable, every, easy, fishes, flighty, 
fury, finny, fancies, finish, furtive, forfeit, fountain, gelid, greasy, 
gory, healthy, hurry, happy, honey, hostile, hospital, hereditary, 
holy, holly, icicle, icy, livid, lattice, latitude, ladies, loamy, 
leafy, laughing, lordship, mastiff, mimic, mountain, miraculous, 
merit, missive, many, money, marry, merry, mossy, mighty, 
naughty, knotty, navies, ninny, noddies, omnibus, orifice, orpiment, 
origin, oxygen, oiZy, pencil, prehensile, premise(s), precipice, pre- 
mises, poppies, plaguy, pity, petty, putty, posy, pithy, retinue, 
reddish, roguish, roughly, racy, ruddy, sooty, sorry, slippery, 
sheriff, servile, subtile, seraphim, similitude, syringe, spicy, saucy, 
-lily, sully, tumid, tariff, thummim, turnip, treatise, tarry.(adj.) 



SECOND VOWEL. S5 

tarn/, (v.) tiny, tetchy, vivid, vestige, virility, visit, vallies, 
very, wiry, witty ; average, baggage, breakage, brokerage, cab- 
bage, carriage, cribbage, courage, cottage, image, leakage, 
marriage, message, orange, passage. 

Accented. — II. Abyss, anticipate, amiss, distance, crystal, listen, 
missile, risk, piston, scissible, thistle, whisper, hyssop ; slipper, 
antipathy, frippery, whip, pipkin, sippet, stipulate, strip, triple ; 
lift, whiff, swiftly, gift ; pith, frith, smith ; bittern, citron, citizen- 
ditto, ditch, fit, kitten, litter, little, admittance, literal, literature, 
literally, literarily, admit, knit, pit, pitcher, capitulate, written, 
rich, wit ; ambitious, fish, dish, agnition, vicious, bishop, antiscii, 
wish ; wicked, auricular, quicksand, ticket, brick, pickle, sick, 
diction, stricture, affix, mix, admixture; imp, limp, simper, shrimp, 
tympanum ; lymph, symphony, nymph ; filth, plynth, Scynthian, 
grilse, since, wince, princely, minster, quince, evince ; chintz, 
flint, printing, scintillate, stinted, inch, pinch, filter, milter, milch, 
hilt, guilty ; milk, silken, ink, brink, drink, wrinkle, trinket, lynx. 

III. Nibble, cribbage, gibbous, exhibit ; imitate, simmer, 
women, limit, timorous, intimidate ; living, quiver, vivify, carni- 
vorous, oblivion ; wither, hither, thither ; busy, busily, dizziness, 
visit, prism, drizzle, invisible, prison ; fiddle, hideous, fastidious, 
idiom, avidity ; administer, anguineal, dinner, liniment, minnow, 
guinea, miniature ; utility, ambilogy, anguilliform, miller, milliner, 
billow, lily, gillyflower, pillage, village, chilly ; lyric, mirror, 
miracle, spirit, myriad ; wriggle, rigorous, vigour, bigger ; singer, 
wringing. 

IV. Fib, nib, rib, squib, giblet, biblical ; give, live, sieve, 
livelong ; with ; his, quiz, business, wisdom ; did, bid, fiddler, 
kid, midshipman, midge, amidst, vigil, width ; fin, grin, gives, 
hindrance, kindred, minion, spindle, sin, stingy, astringent, hinge, 
window, thin, chin, vineyard, rescind ; drill, bill, gills, hill, killed, 
silver, children, film, fulfil, million, instil, illness, bilge, bewilder ; 
big, figs, dig, wigged, higgler, jig, pigment, ignorant, cygnet, 
signal ; ring, fling, wing, kingdom, jingle, finger, thing, tingle, 
eringa, shingle, ringlet. 



86 THIRD VOWEL. 

Distinguish between 

6 2; 8 

passible and passable. aspirate and asperate. 

5 9 

germin — German. surplice — surplus, 

4 9 

rabbit — rabbet. subtile ~~ subtle, (pr suttle.) 

Words of the same pronunciation, but different orthography. 
candid candied cliff clef 

empirical empyrical gild guild 

links lynx signet cygnet 

tint teint 



THIRD VOWEL. 

Observations. — The depression of the tongue to a position as much more 
open than that of i(2) as the latter is more open than that of e(l), produces 
the vowel which is the alphabetic sound of E in French. This sound is not 
heard singly in English, but is always diphthongally tapered into or towards 
the closest lingual vowel ee. The omission of this diphthongal termination to 
the third vowel is a marked provincialism, and is one of the leading features of 
the Scottish dialect, in which the monophthongal a=e French is a very common 
vowel. When the English a=a-e occurs before a voiceless articulation, the 
vanishing sound (e) is so abrupt, and so blended with the radical a as to be 
with difficulty distinguished by the unpractised ear : but the contrasted utterance 
of such words as mate, cape, lake, Sfc. by an Englishman and a Scotchman, 
will show that even in the shortest utterance of this vowel the two elements are 
really present in English pronunciation. When the vowel is final, or before 
voice articulations, its compound quality will be unmistakeably manifested. 

The English custom of making this vowel a diphthong is very apt to throw 
the radical part of the sound too open, so that we often hear 4-1 instead of 
3-1, from careless speakers. 

The 3d vowel is not heard before R in the same syllable in England. R, which 
has the sound of the 8th vowel, could not follow the close finish of the English 
a without creating a new syllable ; and therefore the 4th vowel — which readily 
blends with the 8th, is always substituted, as in air, care, fyc, pronounced 

4 8 4 8 

ai-r, ca-re, Sfc. 

The Scotch a, being a monophthong, unites with R in the same syllable, 
and, therefore, is retained in those words which in English have the more open 
sound — (4) ; so that there is a very marked difference betwixt the English and 
the Scotch pronunciation of such words as air, pear, heir, fyc. 

In Scotland the 3d vowel is used in many words instead of the English 
12th ; as in stone, bone, alone, &c, pronounced stane, bane, alane, &c. This 

3 12 
is another indication of the analogy between a and 0, which we have noticed at 

page 25. 



THIRD VOWEL. S7 



Exercises. 

Unaccented. — Serial, aorta, aonian, archaiology, archaism, 
vacate ;* adage, dotage, herbage, homage, mortgage, salvage, 
tillage, umbrage, vassalage, wharfage ; preface, surface, 
menace, palace, terrace ; paraphrase, ukase ; t agate, allegate, 
advocate, antedate, cerate, confederate, deliberate, dedicate, 
dissipate, emigrate, extricate, electorate, habitate, initiate, 
inmate, legate, meditate, oblate, palatimate. pontificate, phos- 
phate, sulphate, situate, portrait ; acroamatical, ansated, astrolabe, 
counterpane, murrain, wassail, travail, headache, landgrave, 
margrave, surveys), roundelay, essays). 

Accented. — I. Aorist, chaos, crayon, obeyest, gayety, greyish, 
clayey, paying, saying, surveyor, weigher, archaic, alcaic, aerate. 

II. Crape, draper, maple, papish, ha'penny, rapier, sapient, 
tape, staple, drapery, vapour, insapory ; safe, waif, chafe, wafer, 
safety ; faith, faithful, wraith, scaith ; ace, base, face, phasis, 
graceful, hasty, mace, plaice, complacent, racehorse, erase, waste, 
obeisance ; nation, approbation, gracious, education, equation, 
oration, spacious ; eight, bait, great, fated, hatred, crater, lately, 
nature, enate, equator, straight, potato, waiter; ache, baker, 
naked, opaque, sacred, snake, vacant, breaker, wake ; plaintive, 
complaint, may'nt, acquaintance, saint, restraint, quaintly. 

III. Able, babyhood, daybook, labial, neighbour, nabob, sabre, 
tabor, stable ; amiable, famous, claimant, paymaster, gaming ; 
bravery, favour, engraving, quaver, slavery, saving, wavy ; 
bathing ; brazen, blazon, hazy, lazar, nazal, razor ; azure, oc- 

* From the diphthongal nature of this vowel it is comparatively seldom heard 
in unaccented syllables : in the terminations age, ace, ain, al, &c, the Second 
vowel is generally substituted ; but a few words are given above, as, in deliberate 
speaking, the Third vowel would not be pedantic, and is often heard, especially 
in such words as dotage, herbage, mortage, fyc., where the preceding syllable 
is long. 

2 4 

f The colloquial tendency is to open the termination ate into et ; but the 
Third vowel is uniformly heard from good speakers. 



SS THIRD VOWEL. 

casion, abrasion, evasion ; faded, degrading, heyday, lady, 
decadence, cradle, maidenly, radient, trading ; caning, cranium, 
waning, zany, drainer, gala, exhaling, jailer, paling, tailor, sailor ; 
sago, plaguy, plaguing. * 

IV. Ably, stabler, scabrous, babe ; aim, blameless, dame, 
James, exclaim, lamely, namesake, shame, tamed, came; 
bravely, graveness, behaviour, sacred, slaves, wavehsss, waive, 
they've, cave ; bathe, lathe ; baize, brazed, haze, crazed, maize, 
amazed, surveys, weighs, chaise, brazier, grazier; aid, braid, 
flayed, arcade, allayed, shadeless, obeyed, age, umbragious, 
engage, gauge, major, stage, wager, rage ; brains, gains, remain- 
der, domain, pain, reign, reindeer, stained, attainder, vainly, 
stainless, baneful ; ale, dale, frailty, hailstone, nails, assailed, 
veiled, bewail ; craig, vaguely, plague, vagrant, flagrant. 

V. Bay, obey, fray, clay, neigh, prey, ray, dismay, tray, sleigh, 
weigh, survey, inveigh, yea, they, array, dray, jay, allay, grey, 
hay, gay. 

Distinguish between 
Payer and pair l Layer and lair 

Weigher and wear I Mayor and mare 

Gayer and gare. 

' Words of the same Pronunciation but different Orthography. 



ale 


Dane 


ail 


deign 


bale 


fane 


bail 


feign 


bay 
Bey 


faint 
feint 


I raid 
brayed 


gage 
gauge 


break 
brake 


gate 
gait 


clamant 
claimant 


grate 
great 


day 
Dey 


hale 
hail 



lade 
laid 



pane 
pain 



lane phrase 

lain frays 

made place 

maid plaice 

male plane 

mail plain 

mane plate 

main plait 

maze pray 

maize prey 

nay prays 

neigh praise 



FOURTH VOWEL. 



89 



rain 


stake 


tray 


wane 


rein 


steak 


trey 


wain 


reign 


stade 


vale 


waste 


raze 


staid 


vail 


waist 


rays 


stayed 


veil 


wave 


raise 
sail 


tale 
tail 


vane 
vain 


waive 
way 


sale 


vein 


weigh 



FOURTH VOWEL. 

Observations. — In forming this sound, the oral channel is enlarged by the 
depression of the fore-part of the tongue, from its position at a(3), about as 
much as it was increased from ee to a. This formation is one of the cardinal 
points in the vowel scale, being about midway between the closest and most open 
formations ee and ah ; the vowel is one of the commonest in all languages. It is 
the note uttered by the sheep in bleating. 

A vowel intermediate to this and the preceding formation is heard in Scotland, 
as the vernacular sound of the English t, in ill, in, it, &c. This is one of the 
most common vowels in the Scottish dialect ; it is heard instead of the English 
4 th in cherry, merry, &c. ; instead of the 8th in her, sir, &c. ; the 9th in 
does, &c. ; the 18th in put, foot, &c : combined with ee, it makes the Scottish 
form of the English diphthong 7-1, as in ay, child, idle, mine, &c. ; and it is 
heard, besides, in numerous unaccented syllables. 

The organic change from the 4th vowel position to the succeeding formation 
is comparatively minute ; and consequently the sounds 4: and 5 are liable to be 
confounded. The English long form of vowel 4 (heard only before R) often 
verges on 5 ; and in Scotland the short form is characteristically subject to 

the same change ; perish being pronounced almost like the English parish, 

5 5 

very like varry, heaven like hav'n, &c. In some districts, or in some words, 

4 5 

the converse of this change takes place, and we hear kerrier for carrier, 

4 5 

merry for marry, &c. 

A peculiarity similar to the former occurs in the Irish dialect, in which such 
words as men, pen, bed, &c, are pronounced nearly like man, pan, bad, &c. 

The long form of this vowel — identical with the French e in m£me, b&te, &c. 

3 8 

— is that sound which we have said is substituted for A before R in English. 
It is heard in no other position in our language. In Scotland it is common as 
the sound of the English diphthong 7-1, when final, as in eye, high, buy, my, 
try, &c. ; and also in emphatic or strongly accented syllables it is heard instead 
of A (3), as in " I say," "away!" "admiration, tribulation," &c, pronounced 



I sbh, " awEH. !" " admirEUtion" &c. 



M 



DO FOURTH VOWEL. 

An ear unaccustomed to analyze vocal sounds, may possibly, at first, tail to 
recognise the same vowel formation in the words ell and ere = air = heir ; 
arising from its combination in the latter words with the open R(8) : but 
close observation and careful experiment will satisfy the demurring ear of the 
correctness of our classification. When we find all our orthoepists at fault with 
this sound, — and see even Mr Walker, in his laborious analysis of the principles 
of our language, omitting to notice this lengthened sound of eh ; nay, asserting 
that ea in bear, e in there, &c. are the same in vowel quality as a in trade, 
aim pain, &c, we cannot expect our new doctrine to be received without 
question. It is, however, most certain that all English speakers at the present 
day do make a difference in the sound of a as in care and in cane ; and there 
can be no doubt that Mr Walker, fifty years ago, must have made a corres- 
pondent difference between them in his own practice, or else the very obvious 
difference now made must have grown with marvellous rapidity and obstinacy, 
at variance as it is with the theories of our orthoepists. To the qualified ear we 
appeal to corroborate our well tested conclusion, that the a and e in vary and 
very are identical in quality, and different only in quantity or fulness ; just as 
the long sounds in yawn and pool are — confessedly by aD orthoepists — the same 
in quality with the short ones in yon and pull. 

The combination of this long vowel with R, it must be remembered, consti- 
tutes a diphthong, viz. 4-8. Thus, 

48 48 48 482 

pa - ir, be - ar, sha - re, va - r - y. 
Let the reader pronounce the words in the first of the two following columns, 
omitting the vowel-sound of the r, and joining its articulative effect to the first 
vowel as abruptly as possible, and his pronunciations should correspond to the 
words in the second column : or, conversely, let him pronounce the words in the 
second column with the interposition of the vowel-sound of R between its arti- 
culative effect and the preceding vowel, and his utterances should give the words 
in the first column. 

fairy, ferry. 

vary, very. 

chary, cherry. 

Mary, merry . 

dairy, Derry. 

airing, erring. 

But it is not every ear that will be at once competent for this experiment. 
We every day see how difficult it is for the unpractised organs to analyze even 
the simplest words into their elementary sounds ; and how hard it sometimes is 
to get the judgment to assent to the correctness of what seems so strange and 
peculiar as the separate utterance of the elements of language. The ear requires 
peculiar training, as well as natural acuteness, to catch and distinguish the 
transient and shadowy tones of the speaking voice with accuracy. Even ex- 



FOURTH VOWEL. 91 

cellence in utterance or in the practice of music, would appear to be no certain 
qualification for this peculiar province of the critical ear : thus Mr Rice, in his 
Art of Reading, wishing to prove the untenable assertion, that speaking sounds 
do not range between tones of various acuteness or gravity, but differ only in 
force or intensity, like the notes of a drum, — says, " That I might not be mis- 
taken, however, myself, in tins particular, I repeated at different times several 
passages from Milton and other poets, in the hearing of one of the greatest mas- 
ters in that science, (Music) who, after paying the utmost attention to the seve-^* 
ral articulate sounds in each sentence, declared them to be all of the same tone !" 
No fact in the science of speech is better established than that all speaking 
sounds partake of an upward or downward movement — called an inflexion — of 
the voice ; and that, consequently, there is not a sameness of tone throughout any 
correctly-delivered articulate sound ; but here were a Professor of the Art of 
Speech, and U one of the greatest Masters in Music"' deceived in that particular. 

"We cannot, therefore, wonder if critics, less apparently qualified than these 
professional Masters of Sound, should be unable — or unwilling, against general 
theoretic authority — to corroborate by accurate experiment our Vowel-Theory and 
classification. Accustomed, as we are, to a false scheme of representative letters, 
it is not easy to examine sounds by the ear alone, irrespective of their signs ; 
but this must be done by the philosophical student of speech. 

Let the Northern reader now endeavour to lengthen the vowel in the word 

s 
ell, — and he will produce the sound which, followed by the peculiar formation er, is 

regularly heard in English instead of the 3d vowel before R in the same syllable. 

Exercises. 

4 (short) Unaccented. — Biped, learned, sacred, forest, hellenic, 
minstrel, majesty, Messiah, project, (s.) peremptory, quadruped, 
temptation. 

In the initial syllables, ef, em, en, ex, &c. ; as in efface, effect, 
efficient, effeminate, effete, effulgent, effuse ; ellipse, elliptic ; em- 
balm, embellish, embezzle, embody, emphatic, empiricism, em- 
ploy ; enable, enamel, encamp, enchant, enclitic, endear, endea- 
vour, endow, enfeeble, engage, engorge, engrave, enhance, enjoy, 
enkindle, enlarge, enlighten, ennoble, enrich, enslave, entire, en- 
viron ; erratic, erroneous ; eschew, essay, (v.) eccentric, eclectic, 
ecstatic, exact, example, exceed, except, exchange, exculpate, exe- 
cutor, exempt, exergue, exhale, exhilarate, explain, explicit, ex- 
pression, exsiccate, extend, exterior, extol, extract, extreme, exude, 
exult, &c. 



92 FOURTH VOWEL. 

In the terminations, ed, edst, ence, ent, est, eth, less, ment, ness, &c, ; 
as in blighted, dreaded, weeded, elated, noted ; blottedst, mould- 
edst, yelledst ; evidence, penitence, essence, conscience ; provi- 
dent, different, eminent, serpent, comment, (s.) washest, bathest, 
veilest ; breaketh, laugheth, aideth, shibboleth ; headless, heed- 
less, edgeless, soulless, aimless, useless ; government, refinement, 
figment, segment, indictment, ointment, ailment ; wickedness, 
happiness, madness, likeness, illness, lameness, wanness, witness, 
freshness, blitheness, emptiness, harness. 

4 (short) Accented. — II. Depth, depurate, heptarchy, jeopardy, 
kept, wept, leopard, pepper, reprobate, reptile, sceptic, separate, 
tepid, shepherd, epitaph ; effluent, deaf, feoff, cephalalgy, feoffer, 
heifer, zephyr, bereft, theft ; death, saith, ethics, lethargy, method, 
breath, bethel ; bless, best, breast, essence, arrest, fester, guess, 
jessamine, lesson, message, pestle, pessimist, pressed, sessile, tes- 
tament, invest, zest, vesicate ; debt, better, detriment, etiquette, 
etch, fret, etymon, heterodox, heterogene, jet, kettle, metaphor, 
metal, metrical, petty, petulant, retinue, reticle, wretch, veteran, 
wet, yet, treachery, thetical ; fresh, profession, especial, thresh- 
hold, mesh, session, procession ; deck, beckon, elect, mechanism, 
neck, nectarine, peck, wreck, rector, protect, technical, check, 
equerry, equitable, equinox, freckle, peculate — Help, helper, help- 
mate, yelp, whelp ; delf, Delphian, belfrey, Guelf, pelf, selfish, 
shelf, elfin ; health, stealth, wealth ; else, elsewhere, keelson ; 
Celts, dealt, felt, helter-skelter, knelt, melting, shelter, welts, 
belch ; Welsh, Welshman ; elk, welkin ; emphasis, Memphian ; 
empire, emperor, empress, hemp, temper, sempervive, temple, 
temporal, temperate, temse, sempster, sempstress ; dreamt, 
empty, attempt ; emption, pre-emption, redemption ; tenth ; pence, 
density, prehensile, commence, pensive, sensitive, spencer, tense, 
whence, wainscot ; bent, indent, dental, entity, nonentity, meant, 
mental, pentagon, scent, assent, tentative, content, event, ven- 
tricle, went, twenty, blench, drench, henchman, wrench, retrench ; 
gentian, pension, providential ; lengthen, lengthwise. 



FOURTH VOWEL. 93 

III. — Ebbing, pebble ; headed, wedding, meadow, ready, dedi- 
cate, medical, predicate, redolent, sediment, zedoary, treadle, 
steady ; beverage, crevice, ever, evidence, heaven, levy, level, revel, 
lenigate, prevalent, reverie, seven, endeavour ; blemish, emanate, 
emigrant, feminine, general, hemisphere, hemorrhage, lemma, me- 
mory, supremacy, seminary, cemetery, semibreve ; feather, to- 
gether, heather, nether, weather, wether, whether, tether ; hesi- 
tate, peasant, presence, resident, resin, resolute, resonant, mesen- 
tery ; berry, burial, beryl, ceremony, derogate, eremite, errand, 
error, ferret, ferreous, herald, heritage, heroine, peregrinate, pe- 
remptory, peril, perishable, seraph, terebrate, very, veracund, 
verify, wherry ; bellow, cellar, delicate, element, eloquence, felon, 
gelid, gelatin, hellebore, helical, jelly, melancholy, melody, pellet, 
pellicle, prelate, relevant, relegate, relic, stellar, spelling, telegraph, 
teller, vellum, vermicelli, zealous, zealot ; benefit, denizen, deni- 
grate, enemy, energy, fennel, kennel, menace, pennate, penance, 
penetrate, penny, renegade, rennet, senate, seneschal, splenetic, 
tenable, tenement, tennis, venerate, venom, zenith ; measurable, 
pleasure, treasury ; beggar, dreggy, legate, legacy, megacosm, 
negatives. 

IV.-- -Ebb, web, February, pebbly, hebdomad, nebula ; bed-rid, 
educate, headlong, medley, pedlar, hedger, edge, allege, sledge, 
bed, bread, dead, fled, head, said, instead, sped, tread, wed, hegira, 
legend, schedule, regimen, vegetate ; tremble, tremulous, sem- 
blance, remnant, remember, membrane, hemlock, emulate, em- 
brocate, ember, emblem, condemn, phlegm, gem, them, stem ; 
brethren ; says, presbyter ; bell, dell, ell, fell, knell, quell, sell, 
swell, tell, rebel, (v.) compel, well, yell, shell, beldam, belluine, de- 
luge, delve, elbow, elder, elves, elm, helmet, helve, prelude, (s.) 
realm, seldom, sheldrake, velvet ; den, fen, again, ben, ken, men, 
ten, wen, then, when, dendroid, endless, engine, envoy, envy, fend, 
friend, gender, genuine, lend, mend, mendicant, penman, pendent, 
pendulum, penguin, phengite, render, slender, splendid, strenuous, 
tenure, tender, tendril, vengeance, venison, Wednesday, wend ; 



94 FOURTH VOWEL. 

beg, egg, keg, leg, peg, eglantine, segment, integrity, regulate, 
regnant, impregnable, phlegmon, negligent, segregate, tegument. 

8 

4 (long — only before R). — I. Airy, bearable, daring, fairy, garish, 
flaring, glaring, hairy, heiress, carious, JMary, prairie, pairing, 
tearing, vary, variable, wearer, sharing, chary, charily, comparing, 
unvarying, sparing, staring, scarer, ensnaring, swearer ; heirloom, 
scarecrow, prayerless, yarely ; bear, bare, dare, air, Ayr, ere, e'er, 
Eyre, heir, fare, fair, glare, hair, lair, mare, ne'er, pare, pear, pair, 
prayer, rare, spare, stare, scare, snare, tear, tare, wear, ware, yare, 
share, chair, there, where. 

In bricklayer, stage-player, rate-payer, &c, where layer, payer, 
&c. are unaccented, the monosyllabic form 4-8 is generally heard, 
as in prayer ; but when these or similar words are emphatic, as 
in the sentence, " a good worker makes the best player," the dissyl- 
labic form 3-1-8 should be preserved. 



whether 
whither 



Abel 
able 



except effect 

accept affect 

essay (v.) element 
assay aliment 

delectation adept 
delactation adapt 

pendent (a.) terrace 
pendant (s.) tarrass 



Distinguish between 
effluent enallage 



affluent 

elocution 
allocution 

ereption 
eruption 



analogy 

evocation 
avocation 

erogate 
arrogate 



hermetical magnet 

hermitical magnate 

cornet prophet 

cornate profit 



erogation 
arrogation 

terrier 
tarrier 

fellow 
fallow 

palette 



asperation 
aspiration 



Words of the same Pronunciation, but different Orthography. 



Ayr 

air 

ere 

e'er 

eyre 

heir 

lead 
led 



bare 
bear 

there 
their 



knare 
ne'er 

ware 
wear 



fair 
fare 



hare 
hair 



pair 
pare 
pear 



stair 
stare 



tare 
tear 



glare berry bread breast read 
glaire bury bred Brest red 



weather 
wether 



FIFTH VOWEL. M 

FIFTH VOWEL. 
Observations. — This vowel is characteristically an English one. Its for- 
mation is slightly more open than that of the preceding sound — by the depres- 
sion of the middle of the tongue backwards. The vowels from ee to eh are 
produced by depressions of the fore-part, while the middle or back of the tongue 

4 7 

remains elevated ; those from eh to ah bring down the middle of the tongue, 
and so evenly enlarge the whole cavity of the mouth. 

The tendency to interchange the vowels 4 and 5 has been noticed under the 
former of these. In Scotland, it is not unusual to hear the 4th sound in the 
effort to hit the peculiar English formation 5, which the unaccustomed organs 
do not readily take with precision. Mincing and affected speakers in England 
pronounce 4 instead of 5, as — " The ettitudes were edmirable." In some words 
this change is established by almost universal custom ; as in any, many, pro- 
nounced enny, menny. 

The 5th vowel, when initial, is liable to be confounded with the 6th or 7th in 
the article a, as in 

arrode, attest, appeal, accustom, 

a road, a test, a peal, a custom, &c. 

There is a shade of difference in the articulation as well as in the vowel-sound 
of these combinations, though the distinction is not generally attended to. 

In Scotland, the 5th vowel is seldom heard ; the usual pronunciation of all 
words with that element in English, being a short sound of a (7), as in are. 
Thus the verb tarry has in Scotland the same sound as the adjective tarry in 
England — but more abrupt ; cap has a short sound of ca(r)p, back of ba(r)k, 
&c. 

Exercises. 
Unaccented. — Abbreviate, abduce, abhor, abjure, absent, (v.) 
absolve, absorb, abstain, acclaim, accredit, accrue, accumulate, 
acquiesce, address, adhere, adjacent, adjure, administer, admire 
admonish, advert, advise, afflict, aggress, allude, alternate, ambi- 
tion, antarctic, anterior, antique, appertain, apprehend, asbestos, 
ascertain, assuage, assume, atlantean, annua], banian, baptize, 
caviare, hallucinate, disturbance, diaphragm, diagonal, epigram, 
heroical, headland, collateral, general, principal, lineal, dissonant, 
consonant, epitaph, cenotaph, lactescent, lampoon, lascar, magnetic, 
mandamus, mazarine, myriad, nankeen, olympiad, orgasm, 
plantation, pleonasm, regal, spheroidal, transmit, transfer, trans- 
form, translate, tattoo, vagrant, Vandyke, woodland. 



P6 FIFTH VOWEL. 

Accented. — II. Accident, accurate, acid, acetate, acme, acrid, act, 
action, actual, affable, affluent, apathy, apple, aphony, aphorism, 
apogee, apophthegm, appetite, apposite, apsis, apt, aquiline, ash, 
aspect, asperate, asinine, assassin, assonance, asthma, at, atlas, 
atmosphere, atom, atrophy, attic, attitude, axe, axiom, axis ; 
bachelor, back, baffle, baptism, bashful, bat, batch, batten, battle, 
cap, capital, captain, cat, category, catholic, catch, clap, clatter, 
crackle, drachma, facile, fact, faculty, fashion, fat, fatuous, flap, 
flash, flatter, flatulent, fracture, gap, gash, glacier, gracile, graphic, 
grapple, gratify, hackney, hap, happen, hatch, jackal, jasper, 
lacerate, lack, lapidary, lapse, lassitude, lateral, latin, latitude, 
lattice, lax ; macerate, machinate, mackerel, maculate, map, 
masculine, massacre, match, mat, matin, matrimony, matter, 
maxim, nap, naphtha, napkin, nascent, pacify, packet, pap, 
paralysis, passion, passive, patent, patch, patrimony, placid, 
platter, practice, quack, raffle, rapid, rat, rational, rattle, relapse, 
refractory, sack, sacrament, sacrilege, saffron, sapphire, satchel, 
satin, satire, satisfy, saturate, Saturday, Saxon, scaffold, scatter, 
scrap, scratch, slash, snap, snaffle, spatter, sprat, stack, static, 
statue, stratagem, tacit, tabid, tactic, tap, tapestry, tax, that, 
thrash, thwack, tractable, traffic, trappings, vacuate, vaccinate, 
vacillate, vapid, vascular, vat, waft, wax. 

Alchymy, alcohol, alkali, alphabet, altercate, altitude, ample, 
amputate, ancestor, anchor, ankle, autre, anthem, antic, antler, 
anxious, balcony, bank, banquet, banter, blanch, blanket, calx, 
calculate, camp, camphor, canker, cancer, cant, canto, cramp, 
crank, dank, flank, halcyon, hamper, handkerchief, lamp, lank, 
lantern, mansion, mantle, mantelpiece, palpable, pamphlet, 
pantry, philanthropy, panther, plank, rampant, rancour, rant, 
samphire, sanctify, scalp, scamper, shank, stamp, talc, tamper, 
tantalize, thank, trample, trance, tranquil, transit, transient, 
transom, transport, vamp, vanquish. 

III. Abbey, abbot, abbess, adage, adder, adequate, agaric, 
agonism, alibi, aliment, aliquant, aliquot, allegory, alloy, aloe, 



FIFTH VOWEL. 97 

alum, amaranth, amazoii, amethyst, amity, analyse, anarchy, 
anecdote, anile, animal, annals, anodyne, arable, arid, aristarch, 
arrogate, arrow, avarice, average, azote, azymous, babble, bag- 
gage, balance, ballad, ballast, banner, bladder, cabbage, cabinet, 
callender, callid, calumny, cameo, cannon, canopy, caraway, carol, 
cavalry, clamour, dagger, dally, damage, dazzle, dabble, dragon, 
drama, fagot, family, famine, fathom, galaxy, gallant, gamut, 
gaseous, gather, grammar, granary, gravel, habit, haddock, hag- 
gard, harass, havock, hazard, inhabit, janitor, labyrinth, ladder, 
lammas, laneate, larynx, lather, madam, malady, malice, mam- 
mon, manacle, manage, marigold, manifest, manner, mariner, 
marrow, marry, narrow, navigate, palate, palace, palliate, pallid, 
panic, parable, paradox, paragon, paragraph, parallel, parallax, 
paraphrase, parasite, parergy, parish, parody, parrot, parricide, 
planet, radical, rally, raillery, ramify, ravage, ravish, Sabbath, 
saddle, salad, salary, sally, sallow, salmon, salique, savage, scarify, 
shadow, shallow, Spanish, stagger, stammer, stannic, straggle, 
tabid, tallow, talon, tariff, trammel, travail, traverse, vagabond, 
valance, valid, vanish, waggon. 

IV. Abb, abdicate, abject, ablative, abnegate, ablepsy, abro- 
gate, adze, aggerate, adjunct, adjutant, admiral, adnoun, adverb, 
advocate, agitate, aglet, agnate, aggrandize, aggravate, aggregate, 
albatross, album, algebra, algid, almoner, alveary, amber, am- 
bient, amble, ambush, amnesty, aneurism, anger, angle anguish, 
annual, antalgic, anvil, as, bad, badger, bag, balneal, band, bang, 
cambist, camlet, can, candid, canvas, dam, damsel, dandle, dandy, 
dangle, bland, brag, bramble, brandish, cram, clang, fag, fangle, 
flag, flagellate, flambeau, fragment, gad, gag, galvanism, gamble, 
glad, gland, gradual, granulate, grand, halberd, halliard, hand, 
handle, hang, handiwork, Iambus, jaguar, jangle, jamb, January, 
jasmine, javelin, lad, lamb, lambative, land, language, laniard, 
lazuli, mad, madrigal, magic, magistrate, magnify, magnet, ma- 
jesty, man, manganese, mangle, manual, manuscript, pansy, nag, 
pad, padlock, plaid, pageant, pan, pander, plan, plasm, quagmire, 

N 



98 SIXTH VOWEL. 

rag, ramble, random, remand, harangue, sad, sagittal, salutary, 
salvable, salver, sand, sandal, sanguine, scandal, scramble, shag, 
shambles, shamrock, sham, slab, slander, span, spaniel, stag, stal- 
lion, stand, stanza, strand, strangle, swag, tag, talmud, tambour, 
tan, tangle, than, tragedy, valiant, value, valve, van, vandal, van- 
guard, wag, withstand, yam. 

Distinguish between 



accite 


allective 


allude 


alogy 
elogy 
elegy 


appose 


excite 


elective 


illude 


oppose 


apposite 


carat 


coral 


cymbal 


feracity 


opposite 


carrot 


corol 


symbol 


ferocity 


leman 


matrass 


principal 


missal 


pendant 


lemon 


mattress 


principle 


missile 


pendent 



Sixth Yowel. 

Observations. — Usage is considerably divided in England with respect to 
the pronunciation of some words ending in and, aunt, ath, ass, ast, ask, &c. ; 
some speakers giving them the open sound of ah, while others pronounce them 
with the 5th vowel. With reference to the more open sound in these cases, Mr 
Walker has remarked, — " This pronunciation of a seems to have been for some 
years advancing to the short sound of this letter, as heard in hand, land, grand, 
&c. ; and pronouncing the a in after, ansvjer, basket, plant, mast, &c, as 
long as in half, calf, &c, borders very closely on vulgarity." But between 
a(t) and a(re) there is a great organic difference, sufficient to admit of at least 
one distinctly intermediate sound ; and such a sound is undoubtedly heard in 
our language, and is the most common variety of vowel- quality in these irregular 
cases. The extreme pronunciations 5 and 7 are at the present day compara- 
tively seldom heard. The precise quality of the prevailing intermediate sound 
cannot be correctly noted : for it ranges among different speakers through every 
practicable shade of sound within these limits. But the recognition of a dis- 
tinctly mediate sound may give us more uniformity in its employment. Per- 
haps the best standard of this vowel-quality would be the French sound of a 
in vial, or in the article la. 

Speaking of a middle sound between vowels 5 and 7, Mr Walker remarks, — 
" As every correct ear would be disgusted at giving the a in such words as 
past, last, chance, &c. the full sound of a in father, any middle sound ought 
to be discountenanced, as tending to render the pronunciation of a language 
obscure and indefinite." The theoretical discountenancing of any -sound in 
general use has undoubtedly this tendency; but the classification of every variety 



SIXTH VOWEL. 99 

of sound distinguishable in common usage must have the opposite effect, and 
tend to remove obscurity and indefiniteness. The vowel noted as the 6th in 
our scale is unquestionably in our mouths ever} 7 day, and it must therefore find 
a place in the catalogue of our vocal elements. 

This variableness of vowel quality is not observable in all words containing 

7 7 7 

the combinations in which it occurs. We never hear bandy gas, hath, &c, 

5 5 5 

but uniformly, band, gas, hath, &c. 

In the Scottish dialect we hear in some words the 4th, and in others the 7th, 
instead of the English 6th vowel. Thus grass, brass, &c, are generally pro- 

4 4 7 7 

nounced gress, bress, &c, and bath, dance, &c. bath, dance, &c. 

Unaccented a in the syllable immediately preceding the accent, as in abolish, 
alacrity, bazaar, &c. has generally the sound of the 6th vowel ; but among 
different speakers, it obscurely ranges through all the shades of sound from 
the * equal formations of each vowel class, a(n,~) i(rlc,) u(p,) onward almost 
to ah. 

The unaccented final a, in comma, sofa, villa, &c, has always a more open 
sound than that of the a in fat, which is assigned to it by Walker ; but its 
sound is less open than that of the accented a in papa. In such words, we 
have instances of the 6th element. In Scotland the a in this situation is closed 

3 2 3 

into a, or even to i : thus sofa is pronounced as if written sofay, or sometimes 
2 

sofy. 

Exercises. 
Unaccented. — abandon, ability, abode, above, abolish, abound, 
abundant, abyss, academy, academic, acoustic, adapt, adept, 
adopt, adorn, adult, again, aghast, ago, alacrity, alarm, alembic, 
alert, alive, alkalize, aloft, amalgam, amanuensis, amass, amaze, 
ameliorate, amenable, ascend, amidst, anoint, apace, apepsy, 
apology, apostate, arithmetic, arouse, aruspice, ashore, aside, 
asunder,atone, avail, avenge, aver, avert, avidity, avoid, avouch, 
avulsion, await, awake, award, aware, awhile ; baboon, banana, 
barometer, basalt, bashaw, bazaar ; cabal, cadet, cajole, charade, 
chateau, calamity, canal, canine, canoe, capacious, capitulate, 
caprice, career, caress, carotid, catarrh, cathartic, dragoon, 
facetious, familiar, fanatic ; gazelle, gazette, gratuity, ha- 
rangue ; laburnum, laconic, lament laniferous ; malign, macaw, 



* See General Vowel Scheme, — page 28. 



100 SEVENTH VOWEL. 

machine, madonna* Mahomet, majority, mamma, marasmus, 
marine, maroon, material ; oasis ; pacha, pagoda, parade, para- 
logy, paralysis, parodial, paternal, pathetic, placard, platoon ; 
ravine ; sabaoth, sagacious, saliva, saloon, salubrious, savanna, 
savoy, stalactite, statistic, taboo, tarantula, tradition, trapezium, 
vanilla ; syllable, idolatry, synagogue, logomachy, massacre, 
sympathy, apathy, comma, idea, era, sofa, errata, genera, potassa, 
diorama, dilemma, analemma panorama, diarrhoea, dyspnoea. 

Accented. — After, afterwards, alas, ask, bath, cast, castle, 
brass, class, clasp, craft, draft, fast, fasten, glass, graft, grasp, 
grass, last, mask, mast, master, nasty, pass, past, raft, 
rafter, rasp, sample, staff, task, vast, surpass, repast. 

In words ending in nee and nt, custom wavers between the 5th 
and 6th vowels, as in dance, glance, chance; grant, plant, slant, &c. 
In words spelled with au before nt, we generally hear the 6th or 
7th, as in aunt, gaunt, flaunt, taunt, &c. 

The Article a generally has the 6th or 7th sound ; though some 

3 

speakers use the alphabetic vowel a. 

Distinguish between 
abrade avert foremast passable 

upbraid evert foremost passible 



Seventh Vowel. 

Observations. — This Vowel, which is often called the open Italian A, is 
formed with the lips drawn back, the teeth considerably separated, and the 
tongue evenly depressed, so as to spread the sound in the mouth, and direct it 
in a broad current out of the expanded oral aperture. The slightest alteration 
in the position of the tongue or lips will affect the quality of the sound ; and 
thus, though this element is very common in all languages, there are often 
minute differences which give it a distinctive character. 

Habits of oral action — such as pouting the lips, keeping them close at the 
corners, &c. influence all the vowels — the open ones especially ; so that this, 
the most open sound, is peculiarly liable to be affected by them. The effective 
speaker cannot be the slave of any habit of this kind. His lips and tongue 
must be pliable and plastic, and their action must be light and agile, that the 
most minute and momentary movements, either for articulation or emotional 
expression, may be performed with facility. 



SEVENTH VOWEL. 101 

In English this vowel occurs chiefly before R, final, or followed by an arti- 
culation ; but it is almost uniformly heard in dive and aim, (J, not sounded) as 
in halve, calve, palm, calm, alms, fyc. Before If, as in calf, half, fyc. ; and 
in laugh, haunt, Sfc, we as freqnently hear the less open sound of the pre- 
ceding vowel, a(6.) 

The 7th vowel is never short in English. In Scotland we hear an abrupt 
form of it in words which in English have the 5th and 6th sounds, as in man, 
mask, §*c. : but we comparatively seldom find the 7th vowel sounded in words 
which have that sound in English. Thus, bar, jar, star, calm, palm, father, 
frc. are generally pronounced almost as if spelled bawr, cawm, fawiher, fyc. ; 
farm, heart, alarm, Sf-c. are very commonly pronounced with the 4th vowel 
feh-rm, heh-rt, fyc. ; and guard, serjeant, large, fyc. as regularly take the 
sound of the 3d vtfwel (monophthongal), and are pronounced as if written 
gayrd, sayrjeant, layrge, fyc. 

Exercises. 

Unaccented. — Alegar, archangel, archaic, armorial, arthritic, 
articulate, artillery, artificer, arbitrement, artistic, armada, ar- 
senical, barbaric, cardoon, cartoon, curvilinear, dotard, harpoon, 
harmonious, harmonics, linear, lunar, marmorean, monarch, 
narcosis, narcotic, narcissus, niggard, parhelion, participate, par- 
tition, partake, parterre, particular, rectilinear, sarcastic, sardonic, 
sugar, vinegar, wizard. 

Accented. — (Before E[S],followed by a Breath Articulation.) — 

Arc, arch, archery, architect, archives, arctic, arsenic, arson, art, 

artist, artifice, artery, article, bark, barter, carcass, carp, carpet, 

carpenter, cart, cartridge, cartilage, chart, charter, charta, clerk, 

embark, dark, dart, debark, depart, farce, garter, hark, harp, 

harsh, heart, hartshorn, hart, hearth, hearken, impart, larch, 

larceny, lark, march, marsh, mark, market, marquess, mart, 

martial, martin, Martinmas, martyr, parcel, parchment, park, 

parse, parsimony, parson, part, partner, partial, participle, parti- 

zan, sarcasm, scarf, shark, sharp, smart, spark, Spartan, start, 

startle ? tart, tartan? Tartar. 

In the following, and similar words, in which the vowel is before Breath- 
articulations, or Liquids followed by breath- articulations, good usage is pretty 
equally divided between the 7th and 6th vowels. 

Aunt, can't, calf, daunt, draught, gaunt, gauntlet, half, haunt, 

haunch, laugh, launch, saunter, jaunt, taunt. 



102 DIPHTHONG 7-1. 

*( Before, B[S], final, or followed by a Voice Articulation.) — 
Arbiter, arbour, arduous, are, argue, arm, armour, bar, barbarous, 
bard, barge, bargain, barley, barm, car, carbon, card, cardinal, 
carle, carnal, carve, charge, charm, charnel, charlatan, darling, 
darn, far, farthing, farm, garb, garble, garden, gargle, garland, 
garment, garner, garnish, harbour, hard, hardihood, harm, har- 
mony, harness, harvest, lard, large, larmier, larva, mar, marble, 
marl, marmalade, marvel, nard, par, parboil, pardon, parliament, 
parlour, parvitude, sardonyx, scar, scarlet, shard, snarl, spar, 
star, starling, starve, tar, tardy, target, targum, tarnish, varlet, 
varnish, yarn, yard, garnish, jar, jargon, debar, guitar, alarm, 
enlarge, cargo, guard, serjeant, ardent, armament, carnival, 
guardianship. 

{Final, or before Voice Articulations — I silent.) — Almond, alms, 

almry, balm, calve, brahma, hah, halve, malmsey, mamma, papa, 

palm, qualm, salve, father, psalm, jaundice. 

Distinguish between 

altar collar lumbar 

alter choler lumber 



Diphthong 7-1. 

Observations. — This combination is the alphabetical sound of the letter I 
in English, and a very common element of speech. The first part of the diph- 
thong is liable to considerable dialectic and individual modification, as are all 
the open formations, — 5, 6, 8, 9, &c. ; but the combination of the extremes of 
the vowel scale, — 7-1 — ah-ee, — is generally recognised as the correct English 
diphthong. The most usual departures from this in England are to 6-1 and 
8-1. In Knowles's dictionary, this diphthong is analyzed into 10-1, which, 
however, confounds it with another diphthong, — as in isle and oil, — from which 
that author makes it differ only in some ill-defined abruptness of maxillary 
action. The student has but to blend the most open sound he habitually makes 
in such words as far, papa, palm, fyc. with the first vowel, to produce that 

* The combination of the 7th vowel with R, is truly a diphthong, though, from 
the slight difference in the formation of its elements, it is not veiy obviously so. 
The comparison, however, of such words as arm and aim, barm and balm, 
carve and calve, farther and father^ will clearly manifest the diphthongal quality. 




DIPHTHONG 7-1. 103 

form of this diphthong which suits his habit of speech ; but, if he open his ears 
to the utterance of educated Englishmen, free from peculiarities of oral action, he 
will find that the radical part of the diphthong is nothing short of the broad 
Italian ah. It must be remembered, however, that the sound is much more 
abrupt than in the separate or interjectional utterance of that vowel. (See 
page 73.) 

There is a tendency in all diphthongs in careless utterance to slide into a 
sound intermediate in form to their component elements. Thus we often hear 
the 5th or even the 4th vowel substituted for 7-1. In Scotland, especially, is 
this common : the almost regular utterance of this English diphthong, when 
final, being vowel 4 or 5, as in I, eye, my, buy, fyc, pronounced eh, meh, beh, 
Sfc. Sometimes the same sound is used before R, and fire, wire, Sfc. are pro- 

5 5 

nounced /eAr, wehr, ovfa-r, wa-r, frc. When the vowel is in other situations, 
as in night, idle, crime, wild, Sfc. the Scotch use a diphthong compounded of 
their peculiar vowel (4th Lingual, G. V. S. page 28) with the First vowel. 
This combination is heard, independently, in the Scotch pronunciation of the 
word aye, and, — in some words, — in the termination ay, as in pay, Tay, Sfc. 
— and frequently otherwise instead of vowel 3, probably from the same tendency 
that opens the radical part of this vowel to 4, in English mouths. 

In Ireland the general form of this diphthong is 9-1, or even 10-1, — but 
abruptly uttered, — which has doubtless led Mr Knowles to set down 10-1 as 
the formation of the English diphthong. 

The letter E, after a long vowel, always having a vowel sound in itself, 
forms, in combination with this diphthong, a triphthong ; the elements of which 
are 7-1-8, as in fire, wire, higher, fyc. ; words which, fully pronounced, are 
dissyllables : but, to render the combination as monosyllabic in effect as possible, 
the middle element of the triphthong is frequently opened colloquially to vowel 
3 or 4. 

Exercises. 

Unaccented. — /ambus, iconoclast, idea, identify, idolatry, 
ionic, iota, biangulous, bipetalous, c^cloidal, diathesis, diameter, 
diaeresis, diecian, dilate, dilemma, diocesan, dioptrics, diurnal, 
gigantic, gyration, hiatus, hibernal libation, myology, nihility, 
nigrescent, nitrometer, phj/tivorous, primeval, privation, sciatic, 
psychology, quiescence, Riphean, sciagraphy, scribatious, sialo- 
gogue, sidereal, stupify, edify, gratify, triennial, trinomial, 
triumphal, viaticum, vicegerent, villi, vivaceous. 

Accented. — I. Iodine, ire, iris, Irish, iron, bias, brier, buyer, 
client, cyanite, diaphragm, dialogue, diadem, diamond, diet, dire, 
dying, fiat, friar, giant, hierarch, hire, liar, liable, lion, lyre, mire, 



104 DIPHTHONG 7-13. 

myopy, nias, orioii, phial, pianet, piety, pious, pirate, pliant, prior, 
ptyalism, pyre, quiet, choir, riot, science, sciolist, scion, sire, 
society, spiral, squire, syenite, trial, triangle, trio, triumph, tyrant, 
viaduct, viand, violent, viol, virus, wire, zodiacal. 

II. Ice, icicle, ichor, icon, isagon, item, bifid, bifold, bite, 
blight, brighten, cycle, Cyprus, cycloid, dice, dike, fight, flighty, 
fright, gripe, knife, knighthood, lifeless, lightsome, likely, micro- 
cosm, mighty, mite, mitre, nice, nightly, nitre, nitrogen, pike, pipe, 
plight, rightful, righteousness, rice, sight, slighted, smite, snipe, 
spice, spite, sprightly, stifle, strife, strike, thyme, tight, titan, title, 
tricolour, trifle, tripe, tripod, trite, type, vice, viper, viscount, 
vital, whiteness, wipe, write. 

III. Ibis, idem, idle, idol, idyl, iman, ising-glass, island, ivy, 
ivory, bible, bivalve, briny, bridle, climate, climax, cider, divers, 
eider, fibre, finery, finite, Friday, libel, lilac, limature, migratory, 
miner, miser, nidor, piebald, pilot, pineapple, primate, private, 
riding, rising, rival, sidle, silent, sliver, spider, spinal, swinish, 
tiger, trident, trinal, twilight, viminal, wily. 

IV. I'd, ides, I'm, isle, I'll, bide, bile, bind, blind, blithe, bride- 
well, bribe, climb, crime, digraph, divine, drive, file, find, five, 
gibe, glide, grinder, grime, guide, guise, gyve, hind, hide, hithe, 
hive, kindliness, kibe, knives, library, ligure, live, lithesome, alive, 
livelihood, mild, mile, mind, pile, pine, pride, prize, quinine, 
Rhine, rhyme, scribe, shine, sign, size, scythe, smile, stride, 
style, thine, thrive, thyme, timely, tine, tithe, tribe, trigraph, 
twine, vibrate, vile whine, wide, wild, wile, wind, wiseling, withe, 
wrythe. 

V. I, bye, die, fly, fy, high, lie, rely, my, nigh, pie, ply, rye, 
awry., shy sigh, sky, sly, sty, thigh, thy, tie, try, vie, why, wry. 



DIPHTHONG 7-13. 

Observations. — This diphthong, which is a blending of the extremes of the 

vowel scale, on the labial side, as the preceding diphthong was of its extremes 

on the lingual side, is a very common element of language. Its radical part is 

liable to fluctuations of the same nature as those to which that of the preceding 



DIPHTHONG 7-13. 1(>5 

diphthong is subject. The most usual English deviations from 7-13 as the ele- 
ments of the diphthong are, to 5-13 or 6-13, though we sometimes hear 8-13, 
and sometimes even 4-13. In Scotland, its general form is 9-13. In Ireland, 
it is 10-13. 

This diphthong before R, gives the triphthong 7-13-8, the middle element of 
which in colloquial English is monosyllabically toned down into 11 or 10. The 
full utterance of such words as our, sour, &c. is however dissyllabic. They 
are perfect rhymes to power, bower, &c. 

Exercises. 
Unaccented. — Avowee, boustrophedon, brown-study, foundation, 
however, ourselves, outbalance, outbrave, outbid, outdone, out- 
number, outrageous, outshine? shrew-mouse, town-crier, vouchor, 
vouchee, vouchsafe. 

Accented. — I, Avower, avowal, bower, bowels, coward, cower, 
dowager, dowered, lowery, now-a-days, ploughing, power, rowel, 
scour, shower, sour, towel, tower, trowel, vowel, howitzer, our, 
dowry, avowry. 

II. Avouch, bout, chouse, clout, couch, couchant, cowslip, 
crouch, doubt, doughty, drought, gout, grout, grouse, house, 
knout, lout, mouse, nous, ouch, oust, out, outermost, outcry, 
outhouse, outlaw, outline, outport, outrage, outset, pouch, pout, 
rout, scout, shout, slouch, snout, souse, south, spout, sprout, stout, 
tout, trout, vouch : bounce, bounty, bounteous, council, coun- 
sellor, count, countenance, counter, countess, county, fountain, 
frounce, mountain, mountebank, ounce, pounce, trounce. 

III. IjSrowbeat, cloudiness, dowdy, dowlas, drowsy, frowsy, 
mouser, owlet, powder, roundelay, thousand. 

IV. Bound, boundary, browse, cloud, clown, cowl, crowd, 
crown, down, downright, drown, foul, foully, found, foundling, 
fowl, frown, gownman, ground, growl, hound, house, (v.) howl, 
loud, lounge, mound, noun, owl, pound, proud, prowl, round, 
rouse, scoundrel, scowl, sound, spouse, stound, touse, town, 
wound, (v.) blouze. 

V. Avow, bow, bough, brow, cow, endow, frow, how, now, 
plough, slough, sow, thou, vow, mow, (s.) prow. 

O 



100" EIGHTH VOWEL. 



EIGHTH VOWEL. 



Observations. — This is characteristically an English Vowel. Its position 
in the General Scheme, (page 28) indicates its exact formation. It is inter- 
mediate to ah, and the French sound eu ; seeming to the attentive ear to 
partake of the quality of both sounds, and to be thus analogous to the tint 
produced by the amalgamation of two shades of colour. As the colour varies 
with the varying proportions of its elements, so, this vowel, among dhTerent 
speakers, and in different dialects, partakes in a greater or less degree of the ah 
or the eu. In London it is often heard as open as ah, (but this is a vulgarity,) 
as in sarve for serve, sar for sir, &c. ; and, in some of the English provinces, 
it is pronounced almost identically with the French sound, — as in sceur for sir, 
peur(fect) for per(fect), &c. 

The formation of this vowel differs but slightly from that of vowel 9 ; and 
the difference between these sounds is therefore, though clearly appreciable, not 
very strongly marked. This leads to a confusion, on the part of ordinary 
speakers, of such words as Jir and fur, earn and urn, Sfc. ; but the audible 
distinction, though slight, should always be preserved. 

" John's wife and John were tete-a-tete ; 

She witty was, industrious he ; 
Says John, ' I've earned the bread we've ate,' 

' And I,' says she, ' have urned the tea.'" 

The changes which take place in the organic arrangement for vowels of this 
open class are not all within reach of observation. The vocal passage is 
modified by the root of the tongue, and the parts immediately above the larynx. 
The visible difference between the formations 8 and 9 is a slight depression of 
the posterior part of the tongue, which directs the breath against the palate 
somewhat farther back for the 9th than for the 8th vowel. With so little 
accuracy have sounds been observed, and their formations studied, that many 
of our orthoepists — Walker for instance — consider this vowel the same as our 
4th, and mark the er in ermine, perfect, Spc. to be sounded with the same 
vowel, as in ell. Other authors, — as, for instance, those of the " phonotypic" 
scheme, — consider this sound identical with our 9th, and write the same vowel 
mark in sir and surly, myrrh and murder, 6$c. 

This vowel is inseparably connected with the letter R in English. That 
letter alone, after a long vowel, has invariably the sound of the 8th vowel ; as 

48 482 12 182 13 8 13 8 2 

in fai - r, fai -r -y, nea - r, chee - r - ing, poo - r, moo -r- ish, &;c. 

4 8 11 8 13 8 

The terminations re and er have the same sound ; as in ca - re, co - re, hi - re, 

3 8 13 8 9 8 98 

ac - re, luc - re, wond - er, broth - er, S$c. The R in these terminations 
has no articulative effect, but in such words as fairy, cheering, moorish, S$c. 
where a vowel follows it, the R has both its vowel and articulative effect. 



EIGHTH VOWEL. 107 

Welsh and Irish speakers use the 9th instead of the 8th vowel. In Scotland, 
though the 8th vowel is not heard, the 9th is not its substitute. The letters e 
and i before r, have the same sound as before other articulations,—^// and 
firm, still and stir, S$c. ; send and serve, 'pension and person, S$c. having 
respectively the same vowel sounds. The reason of this is, that R has always 
an articulative effect ; it is trilled in all situations ; it has no vowel effect 
even when final. The terminations er and re have the peculiar Scotch vowel- 
sound noticed at page 25. 

The 8th vowel and its associated softening of the letter R, are so peculiarly 
English, that they constitute a shibboletJi to Scotchmen over the Border. In 
practising the following lists of words to acquire this English sound, the 
Northern student may at first pronounce the syllables ir, er, re, SfC, simply as 
ah, — and without any R. By a little practice he will thus check the tendency 
to raise the tongue to the palate, and be enabled to produce the true sound 
with precision. Frequently the mere effort to open the vowel to ah, and omit 
the R, falls short of that point, and produces at once the precise English 
element. The article the is often pronounced 8, when the next word does not 
begin with a vowel. 

Exercises. 

Unaccented. — Certificate, circumference, circuitous, ferment, (v) 
herculean, hermitic, hirsute, mercurial, perhaps, perceive, 
perception, percussion, perdition, perfection, perfidious, per- 
force, perform, perfume, (v.) perfuse, ascertain, permit, per- 
mission, permute, pernicious, perpend, perpetual, perplex, persist, 
perspective, perspicuous, perspire, persuade, persuasion, pertain, 
perturb, pervade, servility, sternutatory, tergeminous, thermo- 
meter, verbose, vermilion, vernacular, verticity, vertigo, verbatim. 

In r and re final after long vowels, — (the following words are 
monosyllables,) — bier, peer, mere, fear, veer, sear, sheer, tier, 
dear, near, leer, rear, gear, clear, here ; air, heir, hare, pear, 
bear, mare, fair, where, wear, there, stair, share, tare, dare, ne'er, 
lair, rare, yare, care, glare ; *par, bar, mar, far, star, tar, car ; 
*purr, fur, cur ; war ; hoar, ore, o'er, oar, pour, boar, more, four, 
floor, wore, sore, shore, tore, door, lore, roar, yore, core, gore ; 
poor, boor, moor, sure, tour, dure, lure, your, cure. 

* In these words — the vowels 7 and 9 being so little different in formation 
from r (8), — the separate vowel quality of R is not so perceptible as in the other 
instances, in which a closer vowel precedes the r ; but sufficiently nice observa- 
tion will detect the same final element in all these words. 



»08 EIGHTH VOWEL. 

In the terminational syllables, er, ir, yr t re, &c. payer, weigher, 
obeyer, assayer, layer, gayer ; ire, higher, fire, pyre, mire, wire, 
sigher, tire, dire, nigher, lyre ; our, power, plougher, bower, 
flower, sour, shower, tower, dower, lower, (v.) cower ; employer, 
alloyer, coyer ; mower, sower, shewer, tower, (v.) lower, goer, 
grower ; sabre, fibre, briber, acre, massacre, meeker, striker, 
ochre, lucre, nadir, pleader, cider, fifer, chafer, ephir, proffer, 
differ, loafer, eager, tiger, ogre, wager, niger, railer, feeler, 
beguiler, ruler, aimer, dreamer, emir, rhymer, roamer, plainer* 
meaner, dinner, diner, owner, paper, sleeper, piper, hoper, 
hopper, cooper, airer, wearer, nearer, admirer, adorer, curer, 
lacer, fleecer, nicer, grosser, grocer, looser, hater, lustre, hatter, 
knitter, theatre, nitre, otter, voter, neuter, shutter, graver, ever, 
beaver, quiver, diver, hover, lover, over, mover, raiser, teazer, 
wiser, quizzer, poser, user, buzzer, washer, fisher, usher, rather, 
either, wither, bother, clothier, soother, other, watcher, pitcher, 
hatcher, botcher, butcher, impeacher, poacher, hanger, singer, 
finger, monger, maugre, zephyr, martyr, satire, sapphire, 
samphire. 

Accented. — II. Chirp, perpetrate, herpes, serpent ; perfect, per- 
fidy, perforate, serf; birth, dearth, earth, earthquake, girth, mirth ; 
Chersonese, erst, hearse, first, mercy, mercenary, immerse, perse- 
cute, person, personate, thirst, terse, verse, versatile, versify ; ter- 
tian, version ; birch, certain, certify, dirt, fertile, flirt, kirtle, pert, 
pertinent, shirt, skirt, merchant, smirch, spirt, squirt, thirty, ver- 
tex, vertical, virtue, revert, myrtle ; circle, circular, circuit, cir- 
cumflex, dirk, firkin, gherkin, irk, irksome, jerk, kerchief, mercury, 
percolate, perk, perquisite, quirk, smirk, zircon, circumflex. 

III. Stirrer, whirring, myrrhine, (sirrah, stirrup, squirrel, 
sirup.*) 

* These words are sometimes heard with the 2d vowel ; the others are al- 
most uniformly pronounced with the 8th, to show their derivation from stir, sir, 
whir, 8fc. There is a tendency also to prefer the radical vowel-sound of 
err, prefer, infer, fyc. in the derivatives erring, preferring, inferring, 6$c. ; 
but e and i before 11 followed by a vowel, have otherwise the same sounds 
as before other articulations in the same predicament. 



EIGHTH VOWEL. 



109 



IV. Herb, herbalist, verb, reverberate, verbiage, ermine, fer- 
ment, (s.) firm, firmament, germ, germinate, hermit, kermes, mer- 
maid, permanent, permeate, permit, (s.) sermon, skirmish, sperm, 
term, terminate, termagant, thermal, thermoscope, vermin, myr- 
midon ; cervical, fervent, fervour, nerve, nervous, serve, pervious, 
servant, service, swerve ; tirwit ; kersey, sirs, hers ; bird, gird, 
girdle, herd, merge, perdurable, perjure, third, verdant, verdict, 
verge, verjuice, dirge, virgin ; earn, earnest, fern, kern, kernel, 
learn, learning, stern, ternary, vernal, yearn, internal ; earl, early, 
earldom, girl, merlin, pearl, sirloin, sterling, twirl, whirl, whirl- 
pool, whirlwind ; bergamot, birgander. 

V. Err, her, sir, stir, whir, myrrh, defer, prefer, aver, confer, 

deter. 

Distinguish between 



kernel pearl pertinence 
colonel purl purtenance 


pervade 
purveyed 


circle circulate 
surcle surculate 


asperate asperation literal 
aspirate aspiration littoral 


anker 
anchor 


auger onerary 
augur honorary 


manner miner sailer 
manor minor sailor 


raiser 
razor 


concert kerb 
consort curb 


firs myrrhine earn 
furze murrain urn 


wert 
wort 


fir ternary 
fur turnery 


Words of the same pronunciation, but different orthography. 


berth earnest 
birth Ernest 


herd 
heard 


verge 
virge 


NINTH VOWEL. 





Observations. — In forming this vowel, the tongue is drawn back a de- 
gree farther than for the preceding element — hardly midway to its position for 
aw. This sound is always short in English, except when it occurs before i?, 
final or followed by an articulation : it is consequently very liable to be changed 
to the more familiar long sounds ah or aiv, when it has to be prolonged, as in 
singing. This arises, not from any difficulty in maintaining the 9th position, 
but from the English organs being unaccustomed to maintain it. A Welshman 
would have no trouble in prolonging the vowel to any extent, simply because 
he is accustomed to form it as long as our ah or aw. 

Among English speakers, there is too little precision in this sound. All the 



110 NINTH VOWEL. 

open vowels are liable to considerable variation among individual speakers ; but 
this vowel is perhaps one of the most indefinite and variable of any. It would 
be well if at least a clear distinction were preserved between it and the preced- 
ing formation, in such words as urn and earn, fur mdjir, purl and pearl, SfC. 
but the erratic habits of both these vowels renders it the more difficult to con- 
fine them to a settled location in the mouth. When the Art of speech shall be 
more generally studied, these confusions and diversities will be condemned as 
uuworthy of the educated speaker. The perfect distinction of minutely differing 
vowels is no less a test of polished and elegant speech than is the clear enun- 
ciation of unaccented syllables the test of a good articulation. The power of 
marking these vocal and articulate niceties with clearness, evidences a degree of 
command over the vocal organs which is rarely obtained without considerable 
application. It gives, besides, a precision and graceful variety to the utterance, 
which should, of themselves, sufficiently recommend its cultivation to the taste- 
ful student. 

' 9 13 

In some English dialects, we hear, instead of u, a sound approximating to oo 
13 n 13 

— ranging in some cases between oo and o(re), and in others between oo and 

the French vowel u or eu ; as in mother, one, further, Thursday, &c. pro- 
nounced mother, w^n, farther, &c. It was probably a dialectic habit like 
this of sounding o for the 9 th vowel, which seduced a recent writer on English 
sounds into the assertion, that, the vowels in cup and cope are identical in qua- 
lity, and differ only in quantity.* All these peculiarities arise generally from 
a habitual contraction of the labial aperture, and a too close position of the 
teeth. Let the defective vowel be practised with a very open formation — even 
though, at first, the sound be as open as ah ; and the ear and organs will soon 
be able to distinguish and form the 9 th vowel with precision. 

In Scotland, this element is slightly less open, and of a deeper formation than 
in England, — the tongue being farther retracted towards its position for aw. 

This Scotch sound will be found separately noted in our general vowel-scheme 

9 
(page 28.) The open character of the English u will be readily acquired, by 

simply opening the mouth well, and retracting the lips in its utterance ; and, 

when it is followed by R, final or before another articulation, by guarding against 

9 
any lingual vibration for the R. The Irish pronunciation of u has, like the 

Scotch, a deeper formation than the English, — partaking more of the quality of 

aw ; it will be Anglicised by the same means. 



We take occasion here to notice the peculiar French sound eu, which, in ig- 
norance of its mechanism, is often so difficult to the English mouth ; and to 
bring it in contrast with the English w(9) — the formation of which is equally diffi- 
cult to French organs. The 9th vowel is not heard in French : the nearest ap- 



• Pitman's Phonography. 



NINTH VOWEL HI 

proach to it is the vowel eu, as in jeune, peur, &c. Frenchmen do not, how- 

9 10 11 

ever, pronounce eu instead of u, but generally aw or o. They may with little 
difficulty acquire the true sound of this vowel when they compare its formation 
with that of their eu. The French eu is formed with the organs internally ar- 

4 10 

ranged as for the English eh, and externally as for aw ; it is the compound, or 
Labio-lingual vowel corresponding to these simple Labial and Lingual Forma- 
tions. (Let the English student of French apply this theory to his mouth, and 
he will at once produce the perfect French eu. The simplest way to practise is 

4 

to dwell on the sound of eh, and, while doing so, to contract the labial aperture 

10 9 

to its ordinary shape for the sound aw.) The English u is intermediate in for- 
mation to aw and ah. The French student of English cannot fail to produce 
it by sounding the vowel ah, and while doing so, allowing the organs slowly 
to arrange themselves upon the sound, so as to modify it into aw. An acute 

ear will trace several shades of vowel-quality in the progression from ah to aw. 

9 
The English sound of u is rather less than haMlvay between these points. Hav- 
ing acquired the formation, let the soujrfFbe pronounced as abruptly as the 
vowel in que, de, &c, and it will-Aft- wfect. 




Exercises. 

9(short.) Unaccented. — Bombast, bombard, buffoon, consul, 
corpuscle, dottbloon, ductility, justiciary, fungosity, lumbago, lus- 
tration, multangular, nmltiloquous, punctilious, runcation, rctstici- 
ty, scurrility, stultiloquence, subdue, subjunctive, sitblime, suh- 
mission, sitbordinate, subscribe, substantial, subtract, subvert, 
succession, succinct, suffice, sidFuse, suggest, supplant, sttpport, 
suppose, sitppress, susceptible, suspect, suspend, suspire, sustain, 
ulterior, umbrella, unable, uncertain, unclean, uncommon, un- 
doubted, uneasy, unfold, unfortunate, ungainly, unhappy, imkind, 
unless, unmerciful, unnecessary, unpleasant, unpopular, unques- 
tionable, unravel, upon, unrol, unsafe, unseen, unsightly, tmsound, 
untidy, until, untrue, unusual, itnwary, unwieldy, ttpbraid, uphold, 
uxorious, seldom, influx, impulse, bankrupt, bismuth, medium, 
odium, opium, earldom, birthdom, blithesome, wearisome. 

In the terminational syllables ous, us, ion, fyc. as in amphibious, 
synchronous, pestiferous, somniferous, abnormous, enormous, sy- 



113 NINTH VOWEL. 

nonymous, dubious, conscious, studious, atrocious, jealous, mar- 
vellous, oviparous, precious, syllabus, genus, incubus, genius, 
momentous, troublous, gorgeous, ferocious, grampus, collection, 
obligation, selection, elocution, delusion, collusion, omission, de- 
mission, transmutation, vision, evasion, adhesion, version, question, 
dudgeon, retention, dimension, attention, extortion, distortion, 
intrusion. 

9 (short). Accented. — II. Bluff, buffalo, cuff, chough, gruff, 
huff, muffin, muffle, enough, puff, ruffian, scuffle, slough, 
snuff, stuffing, suffer, suffocate, suffrage, tough, tuft, couple, 
crupper, cup, puppet, scupper, supplicate, supplement, supple, 
suppurate, upland, uproar, upward, abrupt, interrupt, nuptial ; 
doth ; bluster, bust, buskin, bustle, cluster, custard, custom, 
cusp, dusk, dust, fluster, frustrate, gust, gusset, husk, hustings, 
joust, justice, lustre, musket, must, pustule, rusk, rustic, russet, 
thrust, thus, trusty, percuss, discuss ; but, button, butler, buttress, 
clutch, clutter, cut, crutch, cutler, flutter, glut, hut, mutter, much, 
mutton, nut, nutmeg, putty, scuttle, shut, shuttle, strut, sputter, 
subtle, utmost, utterance ; brush, crush, flush, hush, luscious, 
mushroom, rush, usher, bucket, buxom, buxeous,chuckle, duck, duct, 
ducat, flux, huckster, juxta, luxury, structure, succulent, suction, 
truckle, tuck : blunt, brunt, bunch, constable, dunce, front, grunt, 
hunch, hunt, junto, luncheon, month, punch, unto, bump, bump- 
kin, chump, clump, consumption, comfort, company, comfit, 
crumple, culpable, jump, lumpish, mump, pumpkin, something, 
stump, sumptuous, trumpet, umpire, bulk, consult, cultivate, 
dulcet, fulcrum, fulsome, gulf, hulk, mulct, multiform, multiply, 
multitude, pulp, pulse, stultify, skulk, silk, sulphur, sultry, ulcer, 
ultimate, vulture, result, wont, consult, function, junction, monk, 
monkey, puncture, punctual, sunk, truncate, uncle, unction. 

III. blubber, borough, brother, buzzard, chubby, colour, cou- 
rage, cousin, covenant, cover, cully, cunning, cupboard, currant, 
curricle, curry, double, dozen, drubbing, drugget, drummer, flurry, 
furrow, gullet, honey, huddle, juggle, luggage, money, monetary, 



TENTH VOWEL. 113 

mother, mummery, nunnery, puddle, rubbish, rudder, rugged, rum- 
mage, shovel, shudder, sloven, slubber, smother, smuggle, sum- 
mer, study, stubborn, subaltern, sullen, summit, thorough, Thum- 
mim, druggist, surrogate, tunnel, worry, hurricane, shrubbery, 
colander. 

9 (long) only before B. — Purple, turf, surfeit, cursory, worse, 
burst, hurt, curtain, workman, lurk ; suburban, worm, furze, 
curly, churlish, furl, worldly, churn, burnish, furnace, turner, 
urn, word, absurd, occurred, curdle, burden, purge, urgent, 
urge ; purr, burr, murmur, fur, spur, slur, cur. 



TENTH VOWEL. 

Observations. — This vowel, called the German A, is formed by an in- 
creased retraction and abasement of the root of the tongue, coupled with a slight 
contraction of the labial aperture. It is perhaps the most melodious and mel- 
low-toned of all the vowel-sounds. 

Mr Knowles considers this the most open vowel-formation, but our experi- 
ment, stated at page 23, proves that the oral aperture is considerably smaller 
for this than for the 7th vowel ; and this latter may be proved by a simple, and 
conclusive experiment, to be the most open possible vowel-formation. Thus, 
let the mouth be opened to the uttermost, — by widely separating the teeth, — 
flattening the tongue, and drawing back the lips ; and if the vocal effort be made, 
ah will result. Endeavour to sound aiv, and it will be found impossible 
to do so without relaxing the lips or approximating the teeth, and manifestly 
reducing the oral aperture. In the light of experiment, there can be no ques- 
tion of the relative openness of these vowels. 

The sound of this vowel is often too much modified by the lips ; their pro- 
jection and corrugation — faults too common — are injurious alike to grace and 
distinctness of articulation. It may be stated to be one of the characteristics of 
a good and practised speaker, that he forms his vowels as much within the 
mouth as possible. The beautiful Oratorical Voice — the Orotund — which many 
speakers acquire from long practice, but which may also be attained by cultiva- 
tion, tends very greatly to subdue the action of the lips in speech ; and this is 
attended with another advantage, that it leaves the lips free for their higher 
offices of emotional expression. 

The habit of contracting the lips for this vowel is apt to modify it into the 
next, viz. 11, or even into 12, to the confusion of such words as war and 
wore ; scald and scold, &c. 

In practising the 10th vowel for the reduction of the labial action, the tongue 

T 



!M TENTH VOWEL. 

should be drawn back as far as possible, while the lips— merely covering the 
teeth a little more — remain retracted as for ah. With the finger placed under 
the chin, close to the neck, the downward pressure of the root of the tongue 
shoidd be distinctly felt. 

This vowel and the 7th are most irregularly used in Scotland : — words pro- 
nounced with the 7th in England having the 10th in Scotland, and others hav- 
ing the 10th in England being pronounced with the 7th in Scotland. Thus 

10 10 7 7 7 

the English what and walk, are what and walk in Scotland, while star and 

7 10 10 

calm, are staur and caulm. This exchange does not take place in words in 
which the 10th vowel is represented by o or ou. In these cases, the vowel is 

10 10 10 12 

closed into 12 in Scotland ; as in morn, bought, cost, 6$c, pronounced mourn, 

boat, coast, 6$c. To correct these irregularities, let our lists of words under the 
7th, 10th, and 12th vowels be frequently and carefully read. The English 
pronunciation will soon become habitual ; for the formation of the vowels can 
present no difficulty. 

A peculiarity similar to the above is characteristic of the Irish dialect ; for 
while in the diphthongs 7-1 and 7-13 the first element is changed into 10, we 
hear the 10th vowel changed into, or almost into the 7th, in the great majority 
of words in which it occurs. 

The 10th vowel combines with the 1st to form a common English diphthong 
— heard in such words as joint, joy, <Sfc. 

Exercises. 

10 (short) Unaccented. — Blockade, bronchotomy, cochineal, 
cognition, collapse, collate, collect, collision, collude, collusory, 
combustion, command, commensurate, commingle, commiserate, 
commodious, community, commotion, compages, companion, com- 
pare, compeer, compendious, compete, complacent, complexion, 
comply, compress, compute, conceal, conceive, concentric, concern, 
conciliate, conclusion, concussion, condemn, condense, condign, 
condole, condition, confabulate, confection, confer, congeries, con- 
gratulate, conjoin, conjunct, connate, consider, consign ; conspi- 
racy, consummate, contain, converge, convulse, correct, corroborate, 
corrode, corrupt, cosmetic, costume, holloa, longevity, monsoon, 
nocturnal, nonentity, obduce, oblate, oblique, obliterate, oblivion, 
obnoxious, obscure, observe, obstreperous, obstriction, obstruct, 
obtaiw, obumbrate, occasion, occlude, occult, occur, October, offend, 
officiate, omnipotent, oncotomy, ophthalmic, oppose, opponent, 



TENTH VOWEL. 115 

oppress, opprobrious, oppugn, ostent, ostensible, oxalic, pollute, 
poltroon, polylogy, polymathy, pontifical, possess, posterity, progno- 
sis, prosperity, quadroon, sialogogue, solstitial, somnific, spon- 
taneous, spontoon, tontine, volcano, voltaic. 

10 (short) Accented. — Block, blossom, blotch, boscage, boss, 
botany, bottle, bottom, box, broth ; chocolate, chop, clock, 
cloth, cochleary, coxcomb, cockle, coffee, coffer, colossus, copper, 
copse, copula, copy, cortical, Cossack, costive, cottage, cotton, 
cough, crockery, crocodile, crop, cross, crotchet ; docile, doctor, 
doctrine, document, dropsy ; flock, fop, fortify, fossil, foster, fox, 
frock, frost, froth ; gloss, glottis, gnostic, gospel, gossamer, gossip ; 
hospitable, hostile, hot, hough ; jockey, jocular, jocund, jostle, jot ; 
knock, knot ; locket, loft, lottery ; mock, moss, moth, motley, 
motto, moxa ; nocuous, nostrum, notch, noxious ; Occident, occupy, 
octave, ocular, off, offset, office, often, opera, operate, oppidan, 
opposite, option, optics, optimist, opulent, oscillate, osseous, ospray, 
ostler, ostrich, otter, ottoman, oxygen, ox, oxide ; phosphorus, 
pocket, poplin, populace, populous, positive, posset, possible, pos- 
tulate, pot, process, proctor, proffer, profligate, prologue, prop, 
property, prophecy, prosecute, proselyte, prosody, prospect, pros- 
per, prostrate, proximate ; quantity, quash ; rocket, rostrum, rot ; 
scoff, sconce, Scottish, scrofula, shock, shop, shot, shocking, socket, 
soft, soften, sop, sophist, soporate, sot, squash, squat, stock, 
stopple, strop, strophe ; theocracy, theology, theosophy, throstle, 
tocsin, spot, topic, toss, totter, tropic, trot, troth, trough, twattle ; 
vocative ; wash, wasp, wassail, watch, wattle ; bronchus ; com- 
pact, competent, complex, complot, compromise, concave, conch, 
concave, concord, concourse, confident, confluent, conquer, con- 
scious, conscience, conscript, consecrate, consequent, consistory, 
consonant, constipate, constitute, consuetude, contact, continent, 
contraband, contrary, controversy, contumacy ; dolphin, donkey ; 
font, frontal, frontier ; monster ; nonplus, nonsense ; pomp, pon- 
tiff, Pontic, prompt ; romp ; solstice, swamp ; tonsil, tonsile, ton- 
sure ; wampum. 



110 TENTH VOWEL. 

III. Bobbins, body, bonnet, borrow, bother; cauliflower, chronic, 
choler, chronicle, clog, clonic, cobble, college, colleague, collocate, 
colloquy, colony, colophon, comedy, comet, comity, comma, com- 
merce, commigrate, common, Corinth, coronal, corollary, correlate, 
corrugate ; dollar, domicile, dominate, Doric, dromedary ; fodder, 
folly, foreign, forest, frolic ; glomerate, goggle, grovel ; hobble, 
hobby, hollow, Holland, holocaust, holograph, - homage, holiday, 
homily, homicide, horrible, hovel, honest, honour ; jolly ; know- 
ledge ; laurel, lobby, logarithm, Lollard ; model, moderate, mo- 
dest, mollify, monad, monarch, monitor, monody, monogram, mo- 
nostich, monotone, moral ; noddy, nomad, nominal, nonage, nostle, 
novel, novice ; obelisk, obolus, oligarchy, olive, ominous, oracle, 
oraison, orator, orange, orifice, origin, orrery ; phonic, policy, 
polish, pollen, polyglot, polypus, porridge, pother, probable, pro- 
digal, prodigy, prominent, promise, proverb, provost ; qualify, 
quality, quarrel, quarry ; rosin ; scallop, scholar, solace, solecism, 
solemn, solid, solitary, sonnet, sorrel, sorrow, sorry, sovereign, 
squabble, squalid, stolid, swaddle, swallow ; theology, theodolite, 
toddle, tolerate, tomahawk, tonic, torrid, torrent, twaddle ; volant, 
volatile, volley, voluntary, vomit ; wadding, waddle, wallet, wal- 
lop, wallow, warrant, warren ; zoology, zymology. 

IV. Bob, bodge, bog, bond, bondage, bronze; clod, cobweb, cob, 
cod, cog, cogitate, comrade, conder, condyl, congener, congregate, 
congruent, conjugate, congress, convent, conversant, convex, cos- 
mical ; dog, dogma, dogmatize ; fog, fond, for, (prep.) frog, from ; 
globule, gone, goblet, gondola, gong, grogram ; hog, hogshead ; 
job, jog, John ; lodge, lodging, log, logic, loll, long, longitude ; 
mob, module, modulate, mollient, monument ; nod ; obdurate, 
obduracy, oblong, obviate, obvolute, odd, odontalgy, omnibus, 
omnium, on, onward ; plod, pod, pond, ponder, poniard, problem, 
progeny, prong ; quadrant, quadrangle, quadruple ; rob, rod, 
rondeau ; shod, shone, sob, sod, soluble, solve, somnolent, song, 
spondee, sponsor, squab, squadron, squad, squander, strong, swab, 



TENTH VOWEL. 117 

swan ; throb, throng, tod, tongs, 'twas ; voluble, volume ; wad, 
wan, wand, wrong, wrath ; yon. 

10 (long) Unaccented. — Albeit, although, altogether, auda- 
cious, audacity, augment, aularian, aurelia, auricular, aurora, 
austere, auspicious, aitthentic, authority, autocracy, aittomaton, 
auxiliary, autumnal, discord, corporal, forbid, forgave, formation, 
formality, glaucoma, laudation, mordacious, mortality, ordonnance, 
ordain, orthography, ornate, organic, orthoepy, pauciloquy, salt- 
petre, scorbutic, tautology, tomahawk, torment, (v.) traumatic. 

10 (long) Accented.' — Boy, joy, oil, point, &c; pawing, raw- 
ish, sawest ; war, drawer, for, (conj.) border, chord, corpse, dor- 
sal, forfeit, fork, fortunate, gorse, horse, hortative, morphia, re- 
morse, mortify, mortuary, north, orphan, orpiment, orthodox, 
porcupine, porphyry, porpoise, quart, quarter, quality, scorch, 
scorpion, short, shorten, snort, sorcery, sort, sortilege, stork, swart, 
swarthy, torch, torpid, tortuous, torture, vortex, warp : conform, 
cord, cordial, cormorant, corn, corner, corneous, cornet, cornice, 
dormant, dormouse, forlorn, form, formula, formidable, gorge, 
horn, lord, lorn, morbid, morn, mortgage, normal, northerly, 
orbit, ordeal, ordinance, ordnance, organ, orgies, orgues, 
ornament, scornful, shorl, sorb, sorbile, sordid, storm, sward, 
swarm, torment, (s.) war, warble, ward, warlock, warm, warn. 

II. auction, aught, auspices, author, authorize, autocrat, auto- 
graph, autumn, awful, awkward, balk, bought, brought, calk, cauf, 
cautery, caustic, caution, chalk, daughter, dauphin, falcon, fought, 
fraught, haughty, hawthorn, hawk, laudable, lawful, lawsuit, 
mawkish, naught, nausea, nauseous, nautical, nautilus, ought, 
paucity, pauper, raucity, sauce, sausage, saucepan, slaughter, 
sought, stalk, talk, taught, thought, vaunt, walk, water, wrought, 
malkin ; also, altar, alter, balsam, Baltic, false, falter, fault, halt, 
malt, salt, saltcellar, smalt, spalt, vault, waltz, want, wanton. 

III. Auburn, audible, augur, August, aulic, bauble, caudal, 
causey, daudle, gaudy, glauber, laureate, maugre, plaudit, plausible, 
sawyer, solder, strawberry, tawny, thaumatrope, traulism. 



118 



TENTH VOWEL. 



IV. Alderman, all, almost, audience, augury, awe, awl, awm, 
awn, bald, balderdash, baldrick, ball, bawl, brawl, brawn, broad, 
caldron, call, cause,caldron, clause, claw, crawl, daub, dawn, drawl, 
fall, fawn, flaw, fraud, fraudulent, gall, gauze, gnaw, hall, halse, 
khan, laud, lawyer, lawn, maul, maudlin, pall, pause, pawn, prawn, 
scald, scrawl, shawl, shawm, small, spawl, spawn, sprawl, squall, 
squaw, stalder, stall, tall, talbot, tawdry, thaw, wall, walnut, wal- 
rus, yawl, yawn, yager. 

V. Caw, draw, faugh, haw, jaw, law, macaw, maw, pacha, paw, 
raw, saw, spa, straw, taw, yaw. 

Distinguish between 



aucupation 
occupation 


yawn 
yon 


pawed 
pod 


obduction 
abduction 


auricle 
oracle 




gnawed 
nod 


pawned 
pond 


occidental 
accidental 


fawned 




awed 


sawed 


shorl 


fond 




odd 


sod 


shawl 


gaud 
God 


lord 
laud 


awn 
on 


stalk 

stock 

stork 
stalk 


lorn 
lawn 






DIPHTHONG 10-1. 





Observations. — This is a beautiful diphthong, compounded of aw and ee. 
It is generally somewhat longer than the diphthong 7-1 : this arises from the 
less easy fluency of its elements. To modify the voice from ah to ee, the tongue 
has only to ascend; while to modify it from aw to ee, the lips also must take 
part in the action — and elongate the labial aperture while the tongue rises. 

The first part of the diphthong is very uniform among English speakers : the 
second is less so, being very often stopped at i(2,) and sometimes even at a 
more open position. The Irish pronounce almost 7-1, for this diphthong, but 
with the 7 longer than in the English utterance of that combination. In Scot- 
land the first part of the diphthong is closed into (11) or (12) (monophthong) 
which is usually united with the 2nd or 3rd formation, for the second part. 

R never occurs with 10-1 in the same syllable in English: the word 
choir is pronounced qu-ire for greater facility of monosyllabic contraction. In 
such words as coyer, destroyer, &c, the full dissyllabic combination 10-1-8 
is clearly preserved. 



ELEVENTH VOWEL. 119 

Exercises. 

Unaccented. — counterpoint, envot/, cycloid* monochoid, tro- 
choid, conchoid, rhomboid. 

Accented. — I. Boyish, joyous, joyance, buoyant* coyish, annoy- 
ing, loyal, loyalty, royal, royalty, moiety, voyage, voyager. 

II. Boisterous, choice, cloister, coif, coistril, doit, foist, 
goitre, hoist, joist, loiter, moisture, noisome, oyster, poitrel, 
roister, quoit, voice, voiture. Joint, jointure, ointment, anoint, 
appoint, pointedness, pointless. 

III. Boiler, broider, coyness, cloyment, doily, embroider, 
foible, hoiden, joinery, moidore, oily* poignant, poignancy, 
poison, poisonous, spoiler, toilet, voidable, xyphoides. 

IV. Adjoin, avoid, broil, coigne, coil, droil, essoin, foil, groin, 
join, loin, moil, noise, noiseless, oil, poise, soil, soilure, spoiled, 
toilsome, void. 

V. Alloy, boy, cloy, hoy, joy, soy, troy, annoy, employ, buoy, 
destroy. 



ELEVENTH VOWEL. 



Observations. — This is a formation intermediate toa(ll) and o(ld) which 
occurs in English instead of the latter vowel when before R in the same syllable. 
The 12th vowel is a closing diphthong, and the open element 8(R) could not 
be pronounced after it in one syllable. This has led to the omission of the 
second constituent of the diphthong, and the opening of the first, before R, to 
render the combination smoothly monosyllabic. 

The open vowel quality of the English R draws all preceding closer vowels 
to a greater degree of openness than they have before articulations. This is 
particularly noticed in the cases of the 3rd and 12th vowels, which are regularly 
changed into the 4th and 11th before r(8) but the 1st and 13th — the 
closest vowels — equally illustrate the tendency. Very few uncultivated English 
speakers pronounce ee(l) or oo(13) distinctly before R, at least in conversational 
utterance. Such words as beard, hereafter, earwig, merely, &c. cure, your, 
pureness, &c, are flippantly pronounced, 2-8 and 11-8 instead of 1-8 and 13-8. 
However this may be passable in ordinary conversation, it must be reckoned 
objectionable in more deliberate speaking, or in reading. In some cases, the 
close element, instead of being opened, is altogether omitted before r(8), as in 



120 ELEVENTH VOWEL. 

cheerful, future, courtesy, pronounced by many speakers, cherful, futyur^ 
curtesy or curtsy ; but general custom warrants this elliptical utterance only 

1*8 

in the last instance — the other words being correctly pronounced in full, che erf id, 

13-8 

future, &c. 

There is a delicacy in the softly blending English combination o re which is 
worthy of the attention of provincial speakers — especially of Scotchmen, whose 
pronunciation of these letters is peculiarly harsh. In this lies one of those little 
points, which are, perhaps, the most difficult to be separately appreciated, yet 
which give to dialects their most prominent features. 

That the English ll(o-re) is not the same as the radical part of the 12th 
vowel (0-oold),but a more open formation, will be evident on comparing the Scotch 
and English pronunciations of such words as ore, shore, chorus, porus, &c. 
The Scotch o is the simple radical part of the English — oo(12) ; but it is dis- 
tinctly different from the o(ll) before R in English. The rapid alternation of 
the proximate formation aw — oh, aw — oh, &c, or oh — aw, oh — aw, &c, will 
lead the ear to recognise the medial sound. The R final or before an articul- 
ation must not be trilled. 

The monosyllabic combination 11-8 does not invariably supercede the dis- 
syllabic form 12-8 ; but in personal nouns, such as rower, sower, mower, &c, 
the vowel retains it diphthongal quality, and these words are thus distinguished 
from such as roar, soar, more, &c. 

Unaccented. — Forebode, forecast, foreclose, foredoom, forefend, 
forego, foreknow, foreknowledge, foreshone, forestal, foretel, 
forewarn, forereach, foreshorten, fourteen, portfolio, portcullis, 
portmanteau, powrtray, sycamore, transport, (s.) import, (s.) 
bezoar, deportation, larboard, purport. 

Accented. — Borax, boreas, doree, dorian, floral, forum, glory, 
glorious, glorify, gory, hoary, horal, koran, morion, oriel, 
orient, oriole, quorum, roral, scoria, scorify, sory, storax, 
story, storied, tory, torus, decorum, aurora, porous, canorus, 
censorious, chlorus, chorus, choral, inglorious, psora, pylorus, 
sonorus, thorax, immemorial, Marmorean, notorious, uxorious, 
victorious ; coarse, course, court, courtier, courteous, courtship, 
force, forcible, forth, fourthly, hoarse, porch, pork, port, portly, 
portable, porter, porte, portico, port-hole, portion, portrait, 
portraiture, source, sportive, sportsman, sport, transport, (v.) 
report, support, apportion, deforce, deportment, fort, forte, import, 



TWELFTH VOWEL. 



121 



discourse, discourteous, disproportion, divorce, enforce, perforce, 
proportion, recourse, report, support ; board, borne, bourn, ford, 
forefather, forefinger, foremast, foremost, forecastle, foreground, 
foreland, forelock, foreman, forenoon, forepart, foresight, foretaste, 
forerank, forge, form, (a seat,) fourfold, gourd, hoard, mourn, 
shorn, sorn, sword, sworn, torn, tournament, towards, untoward, 
afford, untorn, unworn, horde, upborne ; boar, bore, core, corps, 
door, encore, explore, floor, fore, four, gloar, hoar, lore, more, oar, 
o'er, ore, pore, pour, roar, score, shore, snore, soar, sore, store, 
swore, tore, wore, yore, adore, ashore, before, restore, implore, 
explore, ignore, restore. 

Distinguish between 



blore 


ore 


tore 


form (a seat) 


blower 


ower 


tower 


form (figure) 


gore 


roar 


torus 


mourn 


goer 


rower 


taurus 


morn 


hoar 


shore 


hoarse 


r import(to convey into) 
V. import, (to signify) 


hoer 


shower 


horse 








lore 


sore 


wore 


import (s.) 


lower 


sower 


war 


import, (signification) 


more 


store 


borne 




mower 


stower 


born 






TWELFTH VOWEL 





Observations. — This formation is, in English, invariably associated with 
the closer form 00, producing a labial diphthong, 12-13, corresponding to the 
lingual diphthong 3-1. 

The radical part of this diphthong is somewhat closer than the preceding- 
element o(re)(ll), but it is hardly, perhaps, so much as half way between it 
and oo(ze)(13.) The diphthongal habit tends to make the English mouth 
throw this sound too open, so that the combination is sometimes even in 
danger of being confounded with 7-13 ; but this is an extreme : less degrees of 
openness, however, particularly to o(ll), are very common. In this respect, 
as well as in several other points already noticed, there is a striking analogy 
between vowels 3 and 12. 

Q 



122 TWELFTH VOWEL. 

A very common fault in the mechanism of this sound consists in a pursed 
projection of the lips to " something like the shape of the letter o," (as the 
student is actually directed in many of our Elocution books ;) but the roundness 
of the mouth must be internal, not external. The lips, for expression's sake, 
should be used as little as possible in speech. To form this vowel the tongue should 
be well depressed backwards, while the lips simply approximate a little. Tliis 
inward formation of is, besides, productive of a mellowness of tone which is 
particularly agreeable, especially in public speaking. 

The tendency of diphthongs to slide colloquially into a sound intermediate to 
their component elements, is illustrated in a very common Provincial English 
utterance of this vowel — noted in our General Vowel Scheme, (page 28,) as the 
2nd Labial Formation. 

In Scotland this element, when attempted, is pronounced monophthongally. 
The vowel may be perfectly Anglicised, by simply allowing the sound to taper 
into oo before closing. 

12 12 

Thus, instead of foe < pronounce foe > \l 
J2 e 12 

" ho^me " ho> ^me 

12 12 

" no<te " no> ^te 

The Northern Student will at first be apt to overdo this in quantity, but 
after a little practice he will have no difficulty in giving the requisite abruptness 
to the combination. He may take confidence from our assurance, and he may 
easily assure himself by experiment, that in the shortest utterance of the English 
vowel the diphthongal quality is really heard. By comparing the English 
and Scotch pronunciations of words containing o(12) before P, T, or K, as 
hope, moat, yoke, fyc. he will satisfactorily and readily ascertain this fact. 

In Scotland the sound of a(3 monophthong) is common instead of o(12), as 
in hame for home, stdne for stone, alane for alone, &c. In some districts a 
closer lingual sound is used in such cases, and we hear stSSn for stone, bSen for 
hone, &c. 

The 12th formation is comparatively seldom heard in Scotland : its most 
usual substitute, however, is the 10th. Words in which the 12th vowel is re- 
presented by ou or ol, as soid, mould, folk, bolster, &c. are pronounced with 
the diphthong 9-13 in Scotland. In Ireland a similar pronunciation occurs, 
but not to the same extent. The 12th formation (but monophthongal) is 
usually sounded in Ireland in words pronounced with that vowel in English. 

Exercises. 
Unaccented. — Alogy, also, allocation, amphiboly, ana- 
chronism, analogy, anecdote, annotate, antagonist, antelope, 
antonomasia, apogee, apoplexy, apostrophe, apotheosis, apposite, 
approbation, arrow, artichoke, autograph, barrow, bellicose, bene- 
volence, bifold, bilbo, billow, borot^A, borrow, botanic, brocade, 



TWELFTH VOWEL. 123 

broccoli, buffalo, burrow, callow, cameo, canopy, cargo, cenotaph, 
chromatic, chronology, coact, coagulate, coalesce, cocoon, coerce, 
coeval, cohabit, cohere, colony, colossus, coquette, coronal, cosecant, 
crocodile, cuerpo, cupola, cynosure, daffodil, derogate, disobey, 
dissonant, domestic, dominion, echo, elbow, elocution, eloquent, 
embargo, embryo, esoteric, exodus, fallow, farrago, fellow,' follow, 
foment, frivolous, furlough, furrow, grotesque, halo, harrow, hollow, 
hyperbole, immolate, imposition, inmost, inchoation, indolent, in- 
nocent, innovate, inuendo, insolate, insolent, intaglio, interrogate, 
introduce, inviolable, iodine, junto, kinsfolk, leo, limbo, malevo- 
lence, manifesto, manifold, marigold, marrow, mausoleum, meadow, 
mellow, methodize, metropolis, mezzo, minnow, mistletoe, Mogul, 
molest, molasses, monopolize, monotone, motto, mulatto, mosquito, 
myopy, narrow, negro, neoteric, nitrogen, nobility, nosology, nota- 
tion, obese, obeisance, obedient, obituary, oblige, obloquy, obsolete, 
omit, omnipotent, opaque, operose, opinion, ottoman, ovolo, pal- 
metto, panado, panoply, peony, philosophy, pillozo, pleonasm, 
poetical, polemic, police, position, potato, primrose, proboscis, pro- 
ceed, proclaim, procure, produce, (v.) profane, profess, profile, pro- 
late, quotation, quotidian, ratio, reciprocal, re-echo, reprobate, re- 
produce, rogation, romance, rondeau, rosette, rotation, scare. -croio, 
scholastic, sciolist, sirocco, society, soever, solemnity, solicit, soli- 
dity, sorrow, stiletto, strappado, stucco, studio, sycophant, syllogism, 
symphony, syncope, synonyme, systole, tadpole, tallow, tenfold, 
theodolite, thorough, threshold, tobacco, tyro, upmost, variolous, 
vertigo, veto, violate, violin, virago, vocation, volition, wallow, zoology. 

Accented. — I. Boa, oasis, poet, proa, proem, stoic, goer, 
orthoepy, owing, mower, zoophyte. 

II. Approach, appropriate, atrocious, betoken, bloat, blowpipe, 
boat, both, broken, broach, broke, choke, cloak, close, (a.) coach, 
coast, coat, coax, cocoa, cohobate, cohort, coke, connote, copal, 
cope, copious, croak, crocus, devote, devotion, dissociate, doat, 
dose, (s.) dotage, elope, emotion, encroach, engross, ferocious, 
float, focus, folk, grocer, grope, gross, hoax, hope, host, iota, 



124 TWELFTH VOWEL, 

jocose, joke, loach, loaf, loath, locomotive, locust, lotion, rnoat, 
mope, mote, motive, motion, narcosis, negotiate, note, notary, 
notice, notion, oaf, oak, oakum, oat, oath, open, opium, opiate, 
parochial, poach, poke, post, potable, potent, potentate, precocious, 
procreate, prognocis, promotion, protest, (s.) quote, quota, quotation, 
remote, reproach, revoke, roach, roast, rope, rotatory, rote, scope, 
slope, sloth, smoke, smote, soak, soap, sociable, social, sofa, spoke, 
stoker, stroke, throat, toast, token, tope, total, trophy, trope, 
Utopian, vocal, votary, vote, wrote, yoke, yolk ; bolt, bolster, bolter, 
colt, colter, dolt, holt, jolt, moult, molten, poultry, poultice, revolt, 
volt, won't. 

III. Aonian, bonus, bowline, Caledonian, clover, cobalt, curioso, 
demoniac, diploma, encomium, ennoble, eolian, erosion, foliage, 
folio, froward, frozen, gnomon, harmonious, hautboy, holy, imme- 
lodious, inconsolable, incontrollable, inharmonious, inodorous, 
mastodon, matrimonial, mohair, molar, moment, noble, October, 
odious, odour, odorous, ogle, ogre, olio, omen, omer, onyx, op- 
ponent, oval, over, overboard, overt, overture, ovine, pagoda, par- 
simonious, petroleum, probate, Roman, roseate, sober, soda, solar, 
spoliate, toga, trover, zodiac. 

IV. Appose, arrode, atone, behold, blown, bold, bole, boll, bone, 
bowl, brogue, close, (v.) clothes, clove, code, cogniac, cold, 
coal, condole, cove, comb, corrode, crosier, depone, depose, de- 
throne, dispose, doge, dole, dome, doze, droll, drone, explode, ex- 
pose, flown, foal, foam, fold, gloze, groan, hold, hole, homely, hose, 
hosier, impose, incommode, control, indisposed, infold, intone, knoll, 
load, loam, loan, loathe, lobe, moan, mode, mole, mould, node, 
nones, nose, ode, old, oppose, opprobrious, osier, own, parasol, pis- 
tole, pole, poll, pose, prone, probe, propose, road, roam, roan, 
rogue, roll, rose, rove, repose, scold, shoal, shown, shrove, sold, 
soldier, sole, soul, stone, stove, suppose, swollen, though, thowl, 
throve, throne, toad, told, toll, tone, troll, unload, uphold, vogue, 
woad, wold, wove, zone. 

V. Although, beau, below, bestow, blow, bo, bow, bureau, crow- 



THIRTEENTH VOWEL. 128 

dough, flow, foe, fro, glow, go, grow, ho, hoe, holloa, know, lo, low, 
mow, no, owe, roe, row, show, sloe, slow, snow, so, sow, stow, throe, 
throw, toe, tow, trow, woe. 



THIRTEENTH VOWEL. 



Observations. — This is the closest of the Labial class of Vowels. In its 
correct formation, the base of the tongue is depressed, and the lips are evenly 
approximated. Its mechanism is very often rendered deforming to the mouth, 
by the lips being " thrust out like a funnel." Indeed, this is the mode of 
formation set down in the great majority of books which profess to give 
directions on the subject ; but it is faulty in many ways, both to the eye and 
ear. It muffles the voice, and deprives it of depth and mellowness ; it is a 
hindrance to expressive utterance ; and it impedes the actions of articulation, 
and renders them heavy, thus creating, or greatly aggravating, difficulty in cases 
of stammering and defective articulation. The corners of the lips should meet, 
and their central edges approximate, without projection ; and the depression 
of the root of the tongue should be so firm as to round off the angle of the neck 
and chin. The close position of the lips is merely required to lessen the 
external aperture of the mouth, and, in whatever way this may be effected, the 

13 

sound will be modified into oo. The projection of the lips is therefore as per- 
fectly unnecessary as it is unquestionably graceless. 

This element, like the 1st, has an Articulative effect, when the modifying 
organs are further approximated during the continuance of the sound. By a 
slight appulse of the lips, the vowel oo becomes the articulation W. Thus if 
the lips be momentarily compressed between the finger and thumb while 
sounding oo, the voice will be modified into woo, woo, woo, Sfc. 

Words ending with oo are liable to the fault noticed with respect to E, 
(page 80) ; the sound dies away in breath as the organs, assume their close 
position. This habit will be easily corrected by prolonging the sound, and 
sharply finishing it in the glottis, without waste of breath. 

The thirteenth vowel is so associated with the articulation Y in English, from 
the Alphabetic monograph U bearing the compound name Too, that the English 
student has often some difficulty in believing that u — yoo is more than a 
simple vowel ; but he must lose sight of letters in his study of sounds, and 
then he will be able to analyze this seemingly simple element, and detect in it 
an articulative action, as well as a vowel sound. 

In Scotland we commonly hear the 3rd Labio- Lingual formation u (French) 

13 

instead of oo. This is the general Scotch pronunciation of words containing 
oo represented by o or oo, as in do, too, &c. In some districts the Lingual sound 
i or ee is used, — as in dee for do, seen for soon, skill for school, fill for fool, &c: 



m THIRTEENTH VOWEL. 

and in long syllables, as when the vowel is final, the Third vowel (monoph- 

thongal) is not uncommon ; as in tae for too, day for do, &c. Thus the 
3 12 3 3 u 3 13 2 

sentence, " Poor John 's so heated that he 's just gone out to cool himself" 
conveys to an English ear the rather startling assertion, that "John is so hated 
that he has just gone out to kill himself." 

Element Thirteen is the common Scotch sound of the English diphthong 7-13, 
as in house, plough, now, cow, &c. pronounced hoose, ploo, noo, coo, &c. 

In Ireland this vowel is seldom heard exactly as in England ; the ver- 
nacular sound used instead of 00 is the Labio- Lingual formation produced by the 
union of the formations ■{ ". This gives a very peculiar sound, which an English 
mouth will have some trouble to mould. The Irish sound will be Anglicised by 
simply holding the tongue well back ; the labial position being the same as 
for 00. 



Exercises. 

Unaccented. — Ambush, anteroom, arrowroot, bivouac, bride- 
groom, brunette, brutality, cesspool, cherubim, comminute, con- 
gruous, coitrant, crusade, faithful, ferula, fruition, fulfil, hurrah ! 
huzzah ! instrument, into, issue, pressure, prudential, prunello, 
rendezvous, routine, rubescent, rupee, souchong, tissue, together, 
toupet, treasure, unto, virulent. 

Accented, (short). —II. Book, brook, butcher, cook, crook, 
cuckoo, cushat, cushion, foot, footman, footstool, hook, look, 
nook, partook, push, puss, put, rook, ruth, ruthless, soot, took, 
pulpit. 

III. Bosom, bullock, bullet, bulletin, bully, courier, fuller, 
goody, pullet, pulley, sugar, unbosom, unwomanly, woman, 
womanhood, woody, woollen. 

IV. Bull, bullion, bulwark, full, fully, good, hood, pull, should, 
stood, wood, woodman, wool, would, would-be. 

(Long) I. Alleluiah, congruity, cruel, cruet, doer, druid, 
fluid, gruel, incongruity, insure, poor, roue, ruin, sure, surety, 
tour, truism, your. 

II. Behoof, boot, booth, booty, bouquet, brutal, caboose, 
coop, coot, croop, crucify, croupier, droop, fluke, flute, fruit, 
fruitage, goose, croup, hoof, hoop, hoot, hookah, inhoop, in- 
scrutable, loof, looping, loose, moot, peruke, poop, proof, recruit, 



THE ASPIRATE, H. 127 

reproof, roof, roost, route, rufous, ruler, rutilant, schooner, 
scruple, scrutable, shoot, sloop, sooth, soup, spruce, stoop, tooth, 
troop, truce, truth, uncouth, whoop, wootz, woof, youth. 

III. Cerulean, booty, doodle, foolish, frugal, gloomy, looby, 
manoeuvre, moonish, obtrusion, oozy, ousel, prudent, prudish, 
removal, rheumatism, rhubarb, ruby, rudiment, ruminate, ru- 
mour, schooling, smoother, souvenir, trusion. 

IV. Admove, approve, balloon, behove, bloom, boon, boom, 
bouse, brood, broom, bruise, brucine, buffoon, cardoon, cartoon, 
choose, cocoon, cool, crude, cruise, detrude, doom, doubloon, 
food, fool, galloon, gloom, gouge, groom, groove, harpoon, improve, 
intomb, loom, loon, lose, maroon, monsoon, mood, moon, move, 
noon, noose, ooze, pantaloon, peruse, picaroon, bigaroon, platoon, 
poltroon, pool, prove, prude, prune, remove, reprove, rheum, 
rood, room, rouge, rubric, rule, ruse, saloon, school, shrewd, 
smooth, soon, soothe, spoon, spontoon, spool, stool, swoon, tool, 
whose, whom, womb, wound, yule. 

V. Accrue, ado, beshrew, bestrew, brew, coo, crew, do, drew, 
halloo, Hindoo, loo, ormolu, ragout, rue, screw, shampoo, shoe, 
shrew, strew, taboo, tattoo, threw, through, too, true, two, undo, 
who, woo, you. 



THE ASPIRATE, H. 

Observations. — We have shown, at page 36, that the letter H does not 
represent any fixed formation, but simply an aspiration of the succeeding 
element. Thus H before e is a whispered e, before a a whispered a, &c. — dif- 
fering, however, from the simple whispered vowel by the inexplosive commence- 
ment of the aspiration, as before explained ; — and H before alphabetic u — 
which, it will be remembered, represents the combination y-oo-— denotes a 
whispered Y, as in hue, human, &c. pronounced Yhue = Yhyoo, Yliuman, &c. 

Some writers analyze the combination Wh, correspondency, into Whw ; and 
it must be acknowledged that many persons do pronounce such words as what, 
which, when, &c. with a Vocal as well as a Breath W, — Whvmt, Whwen, 
&c — but this is by no means the general mode. Wh — the Breath W — is often 
in these words used independently ; although its lingual correspondent, the 
Breath Y, is not so used in English. 



E88 THE ASPIRATE, H. 

English speakers too commonly omit the aspirate of Y and W, and so 
confound in their pronunciation, such words as hue and you, which and witch, 
whale and wail, ichithcr and wither, ivhig and wig. These aspirations are very 
unwelcome to the English mouth, but they can only be omitted at the expense 
of ambiguity. How very awkward to have a brother named Hugh. — " I as- 
sure you I gave the book to 'Ugh." " I beg your pardon, — that you certainly 
never did." " Upon my honour ! — 'Ugh cannot have forgotten it." " I ! — 
come, come !" " You! no, no, I did not mean you, but ''Ugh, — your brother 
'Ugh !" 

The Vowel aspirate is very irregularly used in many parts of England ; it is 
heard when it should be silent, and silent when it should be sounded ; and that 
with such perverse obstinacy that pure initial vowels are almost unheard, except 
in cases where they ought to be aspirated. A gentleman dining on cold hare, 
astonished his entertainer, by exclaiming, " The hair is very 'ot. Explaining 
himself, when he observed the misapprehension, he said, u I mean the hair we 
breathe, and not the ''are we're heating.^ 

This remarkable perversity of custom has been amusingly made the sub- 
ject of a petition in verse from the letter H to the inhabitants of Shrewsbury, 
who are notorious for their haddiction to this abit. 

Whereas by you I have been driven 

From House, from Home, from Hope, from Heaven ; 

And placed by your most learn'd society 

In Ills, and Anguish, and Anxiety : 

Charged, too, without one just pretence, 

"With Atheism and Impudence, — 

I now demand full restitution, 

And beg you'll mend your Elocution ! 

To this petition by the Rev. R. W. Evans, an aspiring Shrewsbury poetess 
aptly rejoined : — 

Whereas we rescued you, Migrate, 

From Horror, Havoc, and from Hate, 

From Horse-pond, Hungering, and from Halter, 

And consecrated you on Altar, — 

And placed you, where you 'd never be, 

In Honour, and in Honesty ; 

We think your talking an intrusion, 

And shall not change our Elocution. 

Many public speakers contract a very disagreeable habit of giving a vocal 
commencement to H, — ahold, ithundred, &c. , — as if fearful that otherwise it 
would not reach the ears of then* auditors. But if it be legitimately aspirated, 
and no more, it will not fail of audibility : the succeeding vowel makes it heard 
far better than can the tasteless expedient of putting a vowel sound before it. 



THE ASPIRATE, H. 129 

A Northern habit of forming, or rather deforming the II, consists in giving a 
degree of guttural compression to the breath, by approximating the base of the 
tongue and the soft palate, producing the effect of the Scotch c/<, which other- 
wise is not used as an initial sound. There is something in this Highland pe- 
culiarity extremely harsh and grating to English ears. It should be studiously 
avoided, — and easily may be, — by all who aim at propriety in speaking En glisli. 

Let the Stammerer study attentively the characteristics of the letter II. It 
is invariably a severe stumbling-block. He will find that, in his fruitless efforts 
to pronounce it, or rather to pronounce the vowel after it, his chest is bearing 
down with collapsing force, and the breath welling out in heavy spouts from his 
convulsed glottis. A useful exercise to check this, consists in prolonging a n 
expiration as much as possible. Let the lungs be fully inflated, by expanding 
the chest to its utmost breadth, and then let the breath be emitted slowly, softly, 
and equably in one unbroken streamlet. After a little practice, the whispered 
expiration will be eontinuable almost as long as a vocal one, — a vowel. The 
junction of this breathing with the vowels must next be aimed at. Thus : — alter- 
nate, in the prolonged expiration, the voice and the whisper of the same forma- 
tion, li-e-h-e-h-e, Sfc; h-o-h-o-h-o, fyc. If the difficulties with initial vowels 
have been first worn off, the Stammerer will not be long in subduing this, — per- 
haps the most troublesome feature in his impediment. Habit, — strong habit, — 
will, for a time, baffle his skill, or try it sorely ; but steady perseverance will 
overcome even the tyranny of habit. 



Exercises. 

Initial. — Heap, heave, hillock, hymn, hatred, heinous, he- 
terodox, hairy, habitable, hand, hasp, hearken, halve, her, hum, 
hurl, hospital, haughty, horsemanship, horal, hopeful, homely, 
hood, hoof, who. 

Medial. — Abhor, ahoy ! behold, behest, behemoth, dishearten, 
enhance, forehand, heigh-ho ! inhibit, mahogany, manhood, nihi- 
lity, out-Herod, outhouse, parhelion, perhaps, prehensile, rehearse, 
unhappy, vehement. 

In the following words, though H is written, the vowels arc not aspirated : — 
Heir, heirship, heirloom, &c. ; honest, honesty, &c. ; honour, 

honourable, &c. ; hostler ; hour, hour-glass, &c. ; humble, humbly, 

&c. ; humour, humourous, &c. 



R 



ISO ARTICULATIONS, 



DICTIONARY OF ENGLISH SOUNDS. 



SECTION SECOND ARTICULATIONS. 

We have already explained the leading General Principles of Ar- 
ticulation, and given a complete scheme of the Articulate Ele- 
ments of our Language. We shall now proceed to offer some 
Practical Observations on each of these elements, with reference 
to their formations, defects, combinations, &c, and to furnish sets 
of Exercises, in the practice of which the student will be enabled 
to acquire perfect mastery over the Instrument of Speech. 

This department of our work will, we trust, be of especial ser- 
vice to Teachers, Parents, and others who have the management 
of children, in enabling them to prevent, or check by timely skill, 
the formation of habits of Defective or Uncouth Articulation, and 
to direct the vocal efforts of children in such a way as to insure 
their speaking with fluency, grace, and distinctness. 

To the Lisping, Burring, Mumbling, and Mouthing " children 
of a riper growth," who are conscious of their cacophonies, and 
desirous to correct them, these Observations and Exercises fur- 
nish the means of removing such articulative blemishes. To the 
Public Speaker they offer Principles and Praxes such as, in ap- 
plication, cannot fail to give Articulation its highest effectiveness. 

The Stammerer will find many remarks under the different Ele- 
ments, which will be of much service to him, both as directory and 
cautionary assistances. An intelligent and a practical acquaint- 
ance with the Mechanical Principles of Speech is the only rational 
foundation for a system of cure. We cannot better advise the 
Stammerer than bid him study well the Natural Principles of 
Speech. Knowing them familiarly, he must be dull indeed who 
does not work out a large measure of improvement from them. 



ARTICULATIONS. 



131 



¥ or perfect freedom from impediment, however, Oral Instruction, 
and the vigilant eye and ear of a master — who can "follow Na- 
ture" in his Art — maybe, in almost all cases, necessary. To no Art 
must the Poet's definition of " True Art" be more strictly applicable 
than to the Art of Speech as applied for the eradication of Stam- 
mering. It must be, merely, " Nature — to advantage dressed." 
The following Table exhibits the Articulations in the order in 
which we shall now treat of them : — 



Articulations. 


Initial. 


Final. Betw 


•een Vowels. Before an Articulation 


I. P, as in pay 


ape 


paper 


apricot 


II. B, 


. . . bee 


glebe 


neighbour 


ably 


III. M, 


. . . mar 


arm 


army 


arm'd 


IV. Wh, , 


why 


— 


awhile 


— 


V. W, 


... way 


— 


away 


— 


VI. F, . 


.. fed 


deaf 


definite 


deftness 


VII. V, 


. . . veal 


leave 


evil 


ev(e)ning 


VIII. Th, . 


.. third 


dearth 


ethic 


ethnic 


IX. Th, . 


. . these 


seethe 


either 


wreath 'd 


X. s, . 


.. sell 


less 


essay 


estuary 


XI. z, . 


.. zone 


nose 


rosy 


rosebush 


XII. R, . 


. . rare 


— 


rarity 


— 


XIII. L, . 


.. left 


fell 


fellow 


fell'd 


XIV. T, . 


. . tale 


late 


later 


lateness 


XV. D, . 


.. day 


aid 


trader 


tradesman 


XVI. N, . 


. . nave 


vain 


waning 


mainland 


XVII. Sh, . 


.. shelf 


flesh 


fisher 


fishmonger 


XVIII. Zh, . 


. . giraffe 


rouge 


pleasure 


hedgerow 


XIX. Y, . 


,. ye 


fille (French) 


cayenne 


— 


XX. K, .. 


. cap 


pack 


packet 


packthread 


XXI. G, .. 


. gum 


mug 


sluggard 


smuggler 


XXII. ng, .. 


— 


sing 


singer 


singly 



132 ARTICULATIONS— P. 



Observations. — The formation of this letter consists, 1st, in a firm and 
equal contact of both lips, so as to retain the breath perfectly behind them while 
it is compressed within the mouth ; and, 2nd, in an equal and rapid disjunc- 
tion of the lips to allow the compressed breath to escape — which it should do 
with a degree of distinct explosiveness. If the contact of the lips be not suffi- 
ciently firm to stop the breath, the letter will strike the ear like F; and if their 
action be heavy, thep will be altogether inaudible when final* and very ungrace- 
ful, and injurious to distinctness in other situations. 

While the lips are in contact, there should be no pouting, or motion of any 
kind ; their separation should be by one light and uniform action, so that the 
whole lips may be simultaneously disengaged ; for if they are projected and 
pushed asunder — as they not unfrequently are — the features are needlessly de- 
formed, and many faults, both of articulation and expression, are created. P 
before F or F, is in this way rendered an impossible combination, or at least an 
excessively ugly one in the attempt ; and many of the vowel sounds also suffer 
in quality from the contracted and rounded aperture of the mouth. The corners 
of the lips must be brought apart, or all the vowels from ee to ah will be more 
or less injuriously affected. Besides, the habit of forming the labial-articula- 
tions in this loose and wriggling way interferes much with the expressive power 
of the lips in the manifestation of feeling. The mouth is the best and most ex- 
pressive index of emotion, and that whose signs are least capable of suppression. 
The eyes have been called the " windows from which the soul peeps forth ;" — 
we should call the mouth the door by which she actually comes forth. But if, 
by ungainly habits of speech the delicately-varying expressiveness of the mouth 
may be defeated, how important — to the orator and physiognomist at least — 
must be the power of regulating the articulative motions of the lips. 

Where there exists any faidt in the formation of this letter, we should pre- 
scribe the following Exercise, which will be found easy and highly improving. 
Practise words containing the letter P in the four situations indicated in the 
Table, and keep the lips in firm contact for some seconds at each P, — observing, 
that while the pressure of breath is continued, there is no motion of any kind 
in the lips. Observe, also, that there is no escape of breath by the nostrils. 

This exercise will subdue, and, with a little care, soon remove the tendency 
to labial mal-articulation. It will be found very useful to Stammerers, avIio 
experience difficulties from want of power over the facial muscles. The lips, 
in many cases of Stammering, are so tremulous and feeble in their motions, that 
they cannot retain the breath under the slightest pressure, but start off again 
the instant they meet, causing repetitions of the labial syllable — pa-pa-pa- 
paper. Sometimes the upper lip is held so loosely, that in the effort to sepa- 
rate the lips it will descend with the lower lip, as if glued to it, dragging down 
the nostrils, and deforming the whole countenance. The upper lip should have 



ARTICULATIONS— P. 133 

as little motion as possible, and it should never be depressed below the edges 
of the upper teeth. 

The letter P presents another difficulty to Stammerers, from an upward pres- 
sure of the lower jaw locking the under teeth within the upper range, while 
the lips are in contact. Tins renders a downward motion of the jaw, as well as 
of the lip, indispensable to finish the letter ; and the teeth are thus forcibly jerked 
down, again to be jammed upwards in fruitless repetitions : and often, instead 
of disengaging the jaws by the descent of the lower teeth, the Stammerer puts 
the effort of separation into the head, and tosses it backwards, or draws it from 
side to side. P is a formidable difficulty under such circumstances ; but a care- 
ful study and practice of the correct formation of the letter will soon remove this 
source of impediment, and correct any fault that may interfere with grace or 
distinctness. 

P is an obstruction of breath only ; there is no effort of voice in its forma- 
tion ; it has no sound but the explosion of breath which finishes it. A fault is 
often created by the too forcible conjunction of the lips, which gives a degree of 
audibility to their meeting ; and this, in an aggravated degree, accompanied by 
deficient glottal power, often produces Stammering of a very heavy and con- 
vulsive kind. The lips, and the organs of articulation generally, should assume 
the position required for the different formations, gently, smoothly, and slowly, 
— retain it firmly while the breath is compressed behind or between the articu- 
lating organs, and by an energetic disjunction, give off the explosive effect of 
the articulation with rapidity. The letter P having no other element of audi- 
bility than this explosion, can never be deprived of it without producing indis- 
tinctness or difficulty. 

We may express in a sentence the great leading characteristics of good and 
bad articulation. The energy of vocal action is disjunctive in good speaking, 
and conjunctive in heavy or impeded utterance ; that is to say, the contact or ap- 
proximation of the organs is light in the one case, and heavy in the other; — the. 
general direction of the actions is downwards from articulations to vowels in 
good speech ; and in indistinct or stammering speech, the force of the actions is 
upwards from vowels to articulations. In order to be clearly understood, with 
reference to the letter P, then, we observe, that it is not made by the conjunc- 
tion of the lips, but by their separation ; and this of course implies that they 
must be in contact before they can be disjoined. If the Stammerer, and the 
Mumbler, and all classes of bad speakers, could apprehend and apply this prin- 
ciple of articulation, they woidd soon rejoice in distinctness and fluency. 

We must farther observe, that in separating the lips there must be no jerk- 
ing of the jaw. If a vowel follow the P in the same syllable, the teeth should 
descend for the vowel as freely as possible, but the P itself must have no motion 
of the teeth, either upwards when the lips meet, or downwards when they se- 
parate. The teeth should remain apart even when the lips arc in contact. If 
while the lips are in the articulating position, the tongue be advanced towards 
them, it should feel that the teeth are apart, and that however great may be the 
pressure of breath, the teeth remain perfectly steady. 



134 ARTICULATIONS— P- 

There is some little art required to make P audible when it occurs in con- 
nexion with any of the other obstructive articulations, as in nap-kin, step- 
quickly, slep-t, cheap-tea, scape-goat, fyc. To master this difficulty, a little 
practice of the following Exercise will be found effectual : — 

ape tay ape kay ape day ape gay, — with e, I, o, oo. 
ap tap ap cap ap dap ap gap, — with e 1, o, u. 

In finishing this and other articulations, it is highly important in every case 
of difficulty, to notice that the issue of breath be restrained immediately on the 
organic separation. If the breath pour out in a continuous stream, the chest 
will fall, and the lungs will soon be exhausted. It is the want of this power to 
retain the breath after articulations which causes the great difficulty which Stam- 
merers experience in joining articulations to succeeding vowels. They will 
often get smoothly over the consonants, and stumble at the vowel, utterly un- 
able to connect the two. They must bear in mind that the breath in articu- 
lation is exploded from the mouth, and not from the chest. The space within 
which the air is compressed is above the glottis, and the effect of the compres- 
sion must not be communicated below the glottis. 

"When a word contains the combination^, the effect of only one pte heard ; 
as in apprise, upper, supplicate, SfC ; but when one word ends with P, and 
the next commences with the same letter, they should in general be separately 
articulated. Two p's can only be made by a repetition of the action of one. B 
and M, being formed by the same labial action as P, will not blend with that 
letter ; but the P must be separately finished when it comes before them. Not, 
however, when it is in the same word, as in upbraid, upborne, upmost, top- 
most, SfC. where the P is a mere stop of the voice. In cupboard, the b only 
is heard, and in subpoena the b is sunk, and p heard. 

It was noticed at page 48, that the nasal letters M, N, NG, must have 
the breath perfectly obstructed by the mouth, in order that the current of sound 
may pass completely through the nostrils ; it follows, therefore, that any of the 
obstructive letters coming before either of the nasal elements, must be finished 
independently of the nasal letter, or the explosion which necessarily results from 
compression of the breath, must pass through the nose. This creates a degree 
of sniffling which is very ungraceful, and which may be easily avoided by a light 
and rapid articulation of the explosive element. P or B before M, must, from the 
hiatus caused by the repetition of the same action, be allowed to nasalize their 
explosions when they meet in one word, or in common phrases ; but there is no 
excuse for sniffling the explosions of T, D, K, and G before M, for they are 
produced by actions which may be rightly performed without at all disturbing 
fluency of articulation. On the same principle, Tand D before N in the same 
word, must lose their oral explosiveness ; but the four other obstructives (P, B, 
K, G) should never be allowed to do so in the same situation. 

P initial, combines only with /, /\ and y in English ; therefore in all the 



ARTICULATIONS— P. 135 

other combinations which we write, namely, pn, as in pneumatic ; ps, in psalm ; 
pt, in ptarmigan, §'C the p is silent. Piv is a common French combination, 
as in poids, (pronounced pwah.) 



Exercises. 

Initial. — Pier, pean, peal, peat, piece, pique, peep, peevish, 
pibroch, pigeon, pickle, pimple, pippin, pivot, pith, pity, pinguid, 
pace, pathos, Paphian, pavement, paper, pepper, pebble, pestle, 
pettish, pap, pabular, pamphlet, papaverous, pavilion, pabulum, 
pass, path, paternal, palatial, pagoda, parboil, parmezan, parvi- 
tude, partizan, perceive, percolate, perfect, permeate, perk, per- 
haps, puppet, public, pump, puff, purchase, purple, pugnacious, 
pucker, pauper, popish, put, poop, pipeclay, pounce, point, poig- 
nant. 

PI. — Plague, placable, plait, played, place, plays, pleonasm, 
plethoric, plenary, pliable, plight, plinth, plod, plot, pluvial, plural, 
plum, plump, plunder, plush, plough, plant, plasm, plaudit, plau- 
sible, platoon, Platonic, pledge, plenitude, plexus, plicature, plover. 

Pr. — Practice, prairie, praise, prate, pragmatic, prank, prattle, 
pravity, prawn, prayer, prebend, precarious, preamble, precious, 
precipice, preclude, predal, predicate, preface, prefer, pregnant, 
prepare, preposition, presbyter, pretend, preterit, pretty, previous, 
prevalence, privilege, privative, proper, probable, probe, prove, 
prime, proud. 

Py. — Puce, pudency, puerile, pugilist, puisne, puissant, puke, 
pule, pumice, pupil, pure, putative, putrid, pewter, pew. 

Between vowels. — Sleepy, reaper, pippin, sippet, paper, apex, 
epoch, pepper, wrapper, napping, cupper, supping, pauper, stopper, 
hoping, shopping, topic, toper, stooping, cooper, piper, viper. 

Before an Articulation. — Chapter, styptic, reptile, rupture, 
captain, cheapness, grapnel, shapely, haply, deeply, toppling, 
supplicate, April, apricot, cupreous, upright, napkin, pipkin, 
stopcock, upshot, upward, naphtha, knapsack, apt, strapped, wept, 
kept, whipped, shipped, popped, cupped, shaped, steeped, piped, 
hoped, cooped, steps, whips, mops, pipes, grapes, hopes, hoops. 

Final. — Sleep, peep, weep, dip, ship, pip, shape, escape, step, 
cap, sap, flap, trap, clasp, carp, chirp, bishop, stirrup, cup, sup, 
shop, lop, fop, hope, rope, elope, scope, soap, stoop, soup, coop, 
poop, loop, dupe, croop, group, hoop, pipe, wipe,ripe, snipe. 



130' ARTICULATIONS— B. 

B 
OBSERVATIONS. — This articulation diners from the preceding in no de- 
gree, extent, or continuance of labial pressure, (as has been erroneously sup- 
posed,) but in the employment of an apparatus unused for P, — i. e. the vocal 
organ — in addition to all the action, compression of breath, and explosive force 
of P. The external action of both letters being the very same, our remarks on 
the formation of P, will equally apply to this articulation. If the junction of 
the lips be too feeble to intercept the breath, the letter will sound like V ; and 
if their action be heavy and sluggish, pouting, or unsteady, the same faults 
and difficulties will be produced which were noticed under the head of P. While 
the lips are in contact for P, there is no sound produced ; the prolongation of 
the contact only prolongs silence ; but in B there is a sound heard while the 
lips are closed. The glottis is put into the vocalizing position, and the breath 
in passing through it creates sonorous vibration ; during the continuance of which, 
the neck, at its junction with the chin, will be observed to distend. This arises 
from the swelling out of the pharynx, an extensible cavity at the back of the 
mouth, into which the stream of air from the glottis, unable to escape by the 
mouth or nares, forces itself. The muffled vocal sound which is heard during 
the distension of the pharynx ceases as soon as that compartment is fully in- 
flated, and can only be renewed when the pharyngeal muscles have been allowed 
to contract. Many persons are deficient in pharyngeal power, and conse- 
quently unable to produce the shut voice in these elements ; so that B, D, and 
6 are hardly distinguishable from P, T, and K. This whispering of the Voice 
Articulations is a remarkable characteristic of Welsh speakers. But after a 
little practice the power of vocalizing the obstructive formations will be perfectly 
acquired. Let the student divell on the articulation as long as possible in its 
various situations ; and though, at first, he may only be able to produce but a 
momentary stroke of voice, he will soon develop a power in the pharynx which 
will enable him to continue the sound for a couple of seconds. There must be 
no silent pressure as in P ; the vocal murmur must be heard, or he is not prac- 
tising B. It is necessary to guard against the slightest nasal sound in this 
exercise. The nasal tubes open from the pharynx, and if they are not perfectly 
closed by their natural valve — the soft palate, — the pharynx will not distend ; 
it is then a leaky bag, and cannot be inflated. 

In forming B, and indeed the Obstructive articulations generally, the com- 
pression of breath must not cease until the external contact terminates, or the 
explosiveness will be lost. It is a peculiar characteristic of some varieties of 
Stammering, that the vocal part of B, D, and G, will be heard perfectly, while 
the letters will not out. The Stammerer repeats the articulation again and 
again with the pharyngeal murmur distinct, yet without the least explosion fol- 
lowing. He is consequently unable to connect the initial letter with the suc- 
ceeding vowel. In this case, the muscles which constitute the sides of the 
pharynx contract too soon ; the instant they yield to the pressure of air, they 
again collapse, — either from a want of power in the muscles themselves, or 
from the Stammerer's inability to continue the effort. Whatever be the cause 



ARTICULATIONS— B. 137 

of the impediment, energetic practice will soon remove it, and develop the ne- 
cessary power. 

B-initial combines with I, r, and y. Bw — which is a frequent French com- 

7 

bination, as in boire (pr. bwar) — is heard in English in Buoy, Buoyant, &c. 

In the final combinations, nib and bt, b is silent, as in dum&, bom&, dou&t, 
debt, &c. 

B before M in the same word, as in cabman, is not finished by a separation 
of the lips ; but before N, the explosive finish of the B should be clearly heard. 
The following Exercise should be practised until its combinations can be thrown off 
with distinctness, grace, and lightness. The combinations should be pronounced 
as words with the accent sometimes on the 1st and sometimes on the 2nd 
syllable. 

abe-taj abe-kaj abe-day abe-gay abe-nay — with e, I, o, oo. 
ab-tab ab-kab ab-dab ab-gab ab-nab — with e\ I, 5, ii. 
The combination BB in the same word sounds like single B ; but when one 
ends with B, and the next begins with that letter or with M, — unless the words 
form an unimportant phrase, — the lips should be separated between the articu- 
lations. 

abe-bay } with e, !. ab-bab \ with e , i. 

abe-may $ — 6, oo. ab-mab J — 6, u. 



Exercises. 

Initial. — Be, beef, beaver, beast, beech, bead, beak, biblical, 
bivouac, biscuit, business, bitter, bicker, bigamy, bay, babe, bathe, 
basis, baize, bait, bane, baker, beverage, bet, bedlam, bend, belt, 
bury, beckon, beggar, bearing, barely, baptism, babble, bamboo, 
baffle, bavin, bastion, bashful, badge, ballast, barrel, back, bag, 
bank, bangle, baboon, batoon, bateau, bar, barb, barm, bars, barge, 
barter, bard, barnacle, bark, bargain, berth, bircb, bird, bergamot, 
birgander, bubble, bomb, bump, buffalo, bust, buzz, budge, bunch, 
bulge, bulk, burden, buckle, bug, bungle, bauble, bought, balk, 
bob, bobbin, bombyx. 

Bl. — Blab, black, bladder, blade, blame, blanch, blank, bland, 
blaspheme, blatant, bleach, bleak, bleed, bleb, bled, blemish, 
blench, blend, blight, blink, blithe, bloat, blobber, block, blood, 
bloom, blossom, blotch, blote, blubber, bludgeon, bluff, blunder, 
blunt, blurt, blush, bluster. 

Br. — Brabble, brach, brachygraphy, bracket, brad, brag, braid, 
brait, brake, brangle, bramble, branch, brave, breach, bread, 



138 ARTICULATIONS— M. 

breadth, break, bream, breast, breath, breathe, breed, breeze, 
brethren, breve, brief, bribe, brick, bridge, bridle, brigand, bril- 
liant, brinded, British, brittle, britzska, broach, broad, brought, 
brogue, broke, broil, brooch, brood, brook, broom, broth, brother, 
brown, bruise, brumal, brush, brustle, brute, bryony. 

By. — Beauty, bucolic, bugle, buhl, bulimy, bureau, burine. 

Bw. — Buoy, buoyant, buoyancy. 

Between vowels. — Feeble, agreeable, bibber, jibber, dibble, 
nibble, liberty, gibberish, fable, affable, lovable, stable, sable, 
passable, table, neighbour, label, labour, cable, gable, ebbing, 
pebble, treble, debit, babble, shabby, jabber, tabard, dabble, 
crabbed, cabinet, gabardine, haberdasher, bubble, stubble, suburb, 
shrubbery, lubber, trouble, rubber, hubbub, bauble, dauber, 
glauber, hauberk, sobbing, jobber, knobby, lobby, probable, 
robber, cobble, gobble, hobble, sober, noble, cobalt, puberty, 
booby, ruble, tuber, dubious, nubilous, piebald, bible, libel. 

Before an articulation. — Feebly, zebra, bibulous, glibly, 
February, celebrity, tablet, abracadabra, babbler, fabricate, 
kerb-stone, troublous, snubnose, warbler, nobly, lubricate, tubular, 
fibrous, library, eyebrow. 

Final. — Glebe, crib, rib, nib, astrolabe, babe, ebb, web, bleb, 
stab, dab, knab, cab, barb, rhubarb, garb, verb, kerb, herb, cub, 
hubbub, tub, dub, rub, grub, club, disturb, daub, bedaub, mob, 
fob, sob, job, knob, rob, cob, bob, absorb, orb, globe, probe, tube, 
cube, imbibe, jibe, bribe, kibe. 



M 

Observations. — This letter has the same orally obstructive formation as 
P and B, but the nasal passages are uncovered, and the air, instead of collect- 
ing within the mouth and pharynx, flows continuously through the nostrils. 
The soft palate is the valve which covers or uncovers the nares ; its action in 
doing so is extremely limited, as may be seen by forming G and ng before a 
glass : the sound may be intercepted and nasalized at pleasure, by a very slight 
but perceptible motion of the upper part of the velum, while the contact of its 
edges with the tongue remains undisturbed. This contact is the necessary for- 
mation of G, of which ng is the nasal form. We have said that the stream of 
breath cannot be directed entirely through the nostrils, unless it be obstructed 



ARTICULATIONS— M. 139 

iu the mouth. It is a common mistake, however, to think that the soft palate 
must, in order to open the nares, lie on the tongue for all nasal sounds. If the 
breath were thus uniformly intercepted at the posterior articulating part of the 
mouth for all the nasal elements, there could be no difference between M, N, 
and ng. The contact of the anterior organs would not influence the sound, un- 
less the vocal current reached those organs. The formation of the English 
Nasals requires that the oral aperture be closed, — it matters not how, — and the 
breath directed against the obstructing organs ; while the withdrawal from the 
nares of that part of the soft palate which lies opposite to them, gives the breath 
a passage through the nostrils ; and the articulation is not finished until the 
organs which close the oral passage are separated. If the obstructing organs 
be not disjoined, the element loses its articulative quality, and is merely a nasal 
vowel. Great indistinctness arises from the want of this action when m, n, and ng 
are final. The French seldom sound the nasal articulations when final, or when 
before another articulation ; they give, instead, a nasal quality to the preceding 
vowel, making the voice issue partly by the mouth and partly by the nose. 
There are no such sounds in English. (See French Semi-Nasal Vowels, page 
36). The English nasals are all purely vocal. They are often faultily formed 
in this respect : — sometimes the voice is breathy and ill-formed in the glottis; 
and sometimes its sonorous quality is injured by some contraction of the nos- 
trils. In order to remove this great blemish, let the nasal elements be practised 
by themselves — beginning them with the same coup de la glotte which was 
recommended for vowel-practice, (page 15) and continuing them with one 
breath as long as possible, in two ways, — namely, in one unbroken effusion of 
sound, and in a number of clear, sharp, and separate strokes of voice. When 
the vocalizing of the nasals has been perfected by this exercise, they should be 
practised with the requisite articulative actions, and in their various combina- 
tions. 

The nasal elements, and also the letter L, are often called Semi-vowels, be- 
cause they are perfectly sonorous, and are capable of separate and prolonged 
enunciation, like vowels. The semi- vowels may each separately form a syllable ; 
L and N often do so in English, as in castle, fasten, S$c. The letters of this 
class are also called Liquids, because they flow into other articulations, and 
seem to be absorbed by them. This peculiar quality might perhaps be better 
understood, were we to call it transparency ; they show through them the na- 
ture of proximate articulations. When the Liquids occur before voiceless arti- 
culations, they are so short as scarcely to add any appreciable quantity to the 
syllable ; wilt t bent t brink, lamp, Sfc. have thus but very little more duration 
than wit, bet, brick, lap, S$c. The liquid or transparent letters in this situation , 
cannot be prolonged without producing drawling, and an un-English pronun- 
ciation of the words. When these letters, however, come before Voice Articu- 
lations, they form the longest syllables in the language, — as in willed, bend, 
tongues, lambs, film, helm, fyc. which have as long quantity as any syllables 



140 ARTICULATIONS-M. 

containing the same vowels can have. The liquids before vowels have the 
same quantity as other Voice Articulations. They are, however, longer when 
final ; and it is one of the greatest beauties of good speaking, to give them, 
then, their " fair proportion." Their liquid quality should not extend to proxi- 
mate words, but only to letters in the same word. 

M before /, v, or w, presents a difficult combination, and one which is seldom 
heard with distinctness from ordinary speakers. M is especially awkward be- 
fore /, which, being voiceless, shortens the liquid, and renders rapidity of action 
necessary. Let the following Exercise be practised, taking care that both lips 
meet for the m, — that, from that position, the lower lip falls down a very 
little for to ; and that, for/, the lower lip makes a quick downward and in- 
ward movement to the edges of the upper teeth, while the upper lip remains 
steady. At first, there will be felt a strong tendency to pout and push the lips 
from position to position ; but a little practice will remove this deformity. 

Aim fay, I Am fam, "> 

Aim vay, >with e, I, o, oo. Am vam, > with g, i, 5, ii. 

Aim way, ) Am warn, J 



M generally presents a serious difficulty to the Stammerer. Voice feeble and 
ill-formed, — collapsing chest, — adhesive lips, — motion in the nostrils, — descent 
of the upper lip, — upward pressure of the lower jaw, — ascent of the chin, — 
twisting and protrusion of the lips ; — and the very smoothness of the letter which 
will not bear such rough antagonistic treatment, — all combine to render M one 
of the greatest difficulties, and the Liquids generally, the greatest obstacles to 
fluency, that the Stammerer meets with. The explosive letters will bear a good 
deal of harshness, but these delicate articulations are impracticable amid such 
violence of effort. 

Careful and patient practice, with the aid of a glass, and sometimes with the 
temporary assistance of direct appliances to check the convulsive actions, will, 
however, surmount even these apparently impassable barriers to speech. 

M initial combines with y, but with no other articulation in English. It is 
written, but silent, before N, as in mnemonics. Mw is a common French 
combination, as in moi, pronounced mwah. 

Exercises. 

Initial. — Mere, mien, meal, meagre, mimic, mimetic, mytho- 
logy, mystic, mistletoe, mission, mitigate, midnight, minister, 
militate, miracle, maple, mane, mail, member, meditate, mend, 
mellow, merry, map, mab, mammiferous, mammon, maffle, ma- 
thematics, mad, mandate, malleable, maritime, mackerel, maggot, 



ARTICULATIONS— M. 141 

match, master, mamma, mathesis, marble, marmoset, marmalade, 
marvel, marl, myrmidon, mirth, mercy, mermaid, mummery, 
mumming, muffler, mundane, mull, murmur, maudlin, maul, 
morbid, morphia, morn, malkin, mop, mob, modern, monad, 
mollify, mope, moat, mode, moan, mole, move, moot, moose, mood, 
moon, moor, mine, mile, migrate, my. 

My. — Mews, mewl, music, mute, mural, muleteer, muniment, 
muculent, mucus. 

Between vowels. — Aimer, dreamy, beaming, imitate, inimical, 
gaming, emery, emanate, femoral, hammer, amability, amethyst, 
camerate, somerset, rummage, gummous, homage, vomit, com- 
merce, momus, foamy, gnomon, roaming, coma, booming, con- 
sumer, zumic, looming, roomy, primate, climate, rhymer. 

Before a breath articulation. — Lymph, nymph, lymphatic, em- 
phatic, amphibrach, emphasis, camphor, comfort, comfortable, 
omphacine, triumph, pamphlet, samphor ; impotent, imp, improve, 
empire, emperor, employ, lamp, ample, amputate, umpire, lump, 
thump ; dreamt, tempt, exempt, contempt, prompt, sumptuous ; 
tamper, stamp, rump, cramp, hamper, temper, champ, whimper, 
gimp, pomp, romp, pump, crumple, hump ; sempstress. 

Before a voice articulation. — Imbecile, thimble, timber, nimble, 
embers, embassy, November, remember, semblance, amber, 
ambient, namby-pamby, bramble, scramble, tambour, ramble, 
gamble, umber, humble, umbrage, stumble, tumbler, adumbrate, 
number, lumber, rumble, gumboil ; triumvirate ; dimmed, 
limned, rimmed, hymned, seemed, dreamed, beamed, aimed, 
blamed, maimed, tamed, famed, stemmed, contemned, con- 
demned, shammed, jammed, lambed, rammed, armed, farmed, 
alarmed, harmed, summed, numbed, thumbed, gummed, warmed, 
formed, stormed, roamed, combed, boomed, doomed, loomed. 

M final. — Seem, dream, disme ; hymn, dim, grim ; aim, dame, 
claim ; them, stem, contemn ; ham, sham, jam, am, drachm, 
slam ; arm, barm, palm, calm ; firm, term ; dumb, come, thumb, 
some, gum, hum ; awm, shawm, form, warm ; form, (seat) ; home, 
roam, dome, comb ; boom, womb, doom, loom, room ; I'm, prime, 
time, lime, rhyme, chime. 

M a Syllable. — Chasm, spasm, sarcasm, schism, prism, rhythm. 



142 ARTICULATIONS— Wh. 



Wh. 

Observations. — This element is a whispered form of W. In its formation 
the lips are closely approximated, and then rapidly separated: the breath is 
nut obstructed. Sometimes a slight degree of vocality is added to the action : 
but there must always be a clear distinction maintained between Wh and W. 
If the action be confined to the lips, and the breathing be softly managed, it is bet- 
ter to keep Wh — analogously to P, and the other Breath Articulations — entirely 
without voice. The action is often not confined to the lips, but thrown back to 
the soft palate also ; and the breath is thus modified at once into ch (German) 
and wh. This is a Scottisli peculiarity, heard very coarsely from Highlanders, 
and with varying degrees of guttural force in all districts of Scotland. Avoiding 
this ungraceful mechanism, Wh will be found to be so unexceptionable and 
delicate in its articulative effect, that even the Cocknies, who, in their incon- 
sistent horror of aspirations, confound it with TV, need not reject it as uncouth. 

This element is not heard before o or oo. On accomit of the difficulty the 
combination would present, the vowel is simply breathed without the articulative 
action : this gives H instead of Wh before these vowels, as in tohole, whose, 
&c. pronounced hole, hooze, &c. 

Wh and W should be contrasted in practice till the ear and organs recognise 
and execute the difference satisfactorily. The following will be a useful Exercise. 



wha wa 


wa wha 


wa wha 


wha wa 


whe we 


we whe 


we whe 


whe we 


whi wi 


wi whi 


wi whi 


whi wi 


whap wap 
whep wep 
whip wip 
whop wop 
whup wup 


wap whap 
wep whep 
wip whip 
wop whop 
wup whup 


wap whap 
wep whep 
wip whip 
wop whop 
wup whup 


whap wap 
whep wep 
whip wip 
whop wop 
whup wup 



These syllables should be accentuated into words — dissyllables and quadri- 
syllables — with the seat of the accent varied. 

Exercises on Wh. 

Whale, whally, whame, wharf, what, wheel, wheat, wheedle, 
wheeze, whelm, whelp, when, whence, where, wherry, whet, 
whether, whey, which, whiff, whiffle, whig, while, whilst, whim, 
whimsey, whimbrel, whimper, whimwham, whin, whine, whinny, 
whip, whir, whirl, whirlwind, whisk, whisper, whist, whistle, whit, 
white, whither, whitlow, whizz, why. 



ARTICULATIONS-W. 



113 



Distinguish Wh from W in the following words 
whey whale wheel when where which 
way " wail weal wen ware witch 

whig while whin whine whit white 

wig wile win wine wit wight 



whether 
weather 

whither 
wither 



W. 

Observations. — This letter has been called a vowel by some orthoepists — 
by others a consonant, and by others both. When before a vowel, it is unques- 
tionably an Articulation ; and when in other situations, it is either a redundant 
letter, as in flo w, or merely an auxiliary mark to make up the writing of some 
sound which has no fixed simple symbol. The combination aw, for instance, 
sounds 10 ; ew sounds 12, as in sew, 13 as in grew ; and ow sounds 12 in 
flow, and 7-13 in now. The only regular sound of W is that of the initial 
articulation. 

In forming W, the lips are very closely approximated, — but not closed or 
projected — and an effort of voice made, which will produce the sound of oo, 
rather closely formed to be pure ; and the articulation is finished by the smart 
recoil of the lips, to give egress to the succeeding vowel. 

W, before oo, is rather difficult of utterance from the little scope the organs 
have for action, and the wis in consequence often omitted by careless speakers ; 
wool being pronounced ool, woman, ooman, &c. A little practice will enable 
any person to articulate the combination distinctly. Sound the vowel oo — 
taking care that the lips are not projected or unnecessarily contracted — and 
with the thumb and forefinger slightly approximate the middle of the lips dur- 
ing the continuance of the sound, and the word ivoo will be reiterated. This 
will clearly show what the formation of W really is, and, with a little exercise, 
the lips will be able to originate the necessary action, and perform it neatly and 
rapidly. Any habit of mal-formation which may have been acquired will readi- 
ly be thrown off in this way. 

Wr is a digraph retained in our orthography, but the w is not sounded. It 
is, however, a perfectly practicable combination, and may probably have been ar- 
ticulated in the earlier ages of our language. In the Scottish dialect, both letters 
are still often heard in such words as wretch, wright, &c. 

W and wh occasion many a difficulty to the Stammerer. Sometimes the seat 
of the impediment lies in the production of voice in the w ; sometimes in the 
junction of the articulation with the succeeding vowel. The Stammerer, blind to 
the principle that articulations are made by disjunctive actions, jerks his chin 
forcibly upwards to make this element : the lips meet and grasp each other, 
in struggle — as if each strove to push the other from the face ; while the head, 
eyes, and whole body partake of the effort, and undergo a paroxysm of distort- 
ing convulsive actions : and it is not until the face is reddened with the strain- 



U4 ARTICULATIONS— F. 

ing effort, and the chest almost collapsed, that the sound ungovernably rushes 
out. 

The means of cure of this painful impediment must be founded on the clear 
conviction that the lips cannot produce the sound— 'that they only modify it, 
and that gently and instantaneously ; and that, consequently, any effort 
thrown into them is unnatural, and must be the cause of difficulty. Let the 
Stammerer but observe the mechanism of W from the vowel oo in the way above 
described, and the hold of the impediment will be at once greatly loosened. 
Guarded practice and careful application of the right principles of its articulation 
will soon perfectly obviate the difficulty which this element presents. 

The 7th vowel is never heard after W in English. The contracted labial 
aperture for the articulation would render its combination with so open a vowel 
harsh ; and the more congenial formation 10 is used instead. All the other 
vowels occur after W ; no articulation ever follows it. 

W combines with the initial articulations, B, D, G, T, K Th, S, as in buoy, 
dwindle, guava, twice, queen, thwart, sway. Lists will be found under the 
initial elements. 

In the French language, W follows almost all the articulations : it is heard after 
R in roi, after F infois, L in loin, M in moi, N in noir, P in poid, V in voir, &c. 

Exercises. 

Initial. — We, weep, weave, weevil, weasel, weed, ween, weal, 
we're, weak, weird, wield, weasand, weary ; women, with, wistful, 
wizard, wisdom, wish, wisp, witness, witch, widow, width, window, 
winter, will, wilt, wilder, willow, wick, wicked, wicket, widgeon, 
wig, wigwam, weechelm, wing, wink ; way, wafer, wave, waste, 
wage, wait, wade, wain, wail, wake, wager; weapon, wept, web, 
west, weft, wedge, wet, wedding, wainscot, Wednesday, well, welt, 
weld, welkin, welfare, wealth, Welsh, wear, wary ; waggish, waggon, 
wax, waft, wafture ; worm, worth, worthy, worse, word, wonder, 
won, wont, world, worldly, work ; warp, warble, warm, wars, was, 
wash, wasp, wast, wart, wadding, ward, wan, warn, wall, war, 
warlike, walk, watch ; wore, worn ; woe, woes, woad, woful, wold, 
woke ; woop, wSman, womb, woo, woof, woos, woots, wtfod, wooed, 
wooer, w5ol ; wipe, wife, wive, wi^e, wise, wight, wide, wine, wile, 
wily, wild, wire. 

Betvjeen Vowels. — Away, awake, beware, bewitch, bewilder, 
reward, froward, pewet, prewarn, seaward. 



F. 

Observations. — F is formed by the apposition of the middle of the lovve 
lip to the edges of the upper teeth, and by the rapid withdrawal of the lip by a 



ARTICULATIONS-F. 145 

downward and backward action to finish the articulation. The breath must 
not be altogether intercepted during the organic contact. The obstruction 
offered by the lip, however, gives the breath sufficient compression in the mouth 
to produce a degree of explosiveness when the lip is removed. We have already 
spoken of the necessity of attending carefully to the labial action, so as to avoid 
redundancy or ungracefulness. An awkward formation of F and V is so common 
as to render a repetition of the caution here necessary. The Up is frequently 
rolled outwards, so as to bring its interior surface against the front of the teeth ; 
and the upper lip is twitched up towards the nostrils, to avoid collision with the 
clumsy usurper from below. The mouth is sadly deformed by these ungainly 
actions, and the wriggling lips look in profile like a couple of " uneasie worms, 1 ' 
tossing and twining in agony. There is nothing in this, or in any articulation, 
nor in any combination of sounds in speech, that requires these loose, irregular, 
and propulsive actions of the lips ; they are purely gratuitous, and should be 
studiously avoided by every person of taste. The lips should, as nearly as 
possible, retain the form of the dental ranges in all their actions. For F the 
upper lip should have no motion ; and the under lip should merely rise suffi- 
ciently to bring its edge against the tips of the upper teeth. A too labial for- 
mation of the vowels aw, o, oo, will create a difficulty in articulating F neatly 
in syllables containing these vowels in combination with it ; — as in awful, 
ivolfish, uvula, over, &c. In this case the vowel formation must first be rectified. 
A little practice — the grand improver — will suffice. 

This labial mal-action, aggravated by the heaving upward pressure of the jaw, 
creates a trying difficulty to the Stammerer. F, properly continuous, becomes 
perfectly obstructive, and acquires all the difficulty of P, with a more awkward 
position of the lips : for the lower lip frequently forces its ascent to the upper 
gum, and wedges itself in between that and the upper lip. — But Error is too various 
to be traced in all its vagaries ; — and the erroneous actions of Stammering are so 
eccentric as to present new features in almost every case. Let the true principles 
of articulation be investigated, and brought in contrast with any error, and, if 
the source of the error be not at once made apparent, the means of removing it 
will, at least, be so. Stammerers have been by some advisers told to study all 
the phases of their impediments, and to practise the opposite of their faulty 
tendencies, as if the reverse of every wrong must needs be right : but our more 
rational advice is — study, and thoroughly master the simplicity of true principles, 
for if the practical acquisition of them do not effect a cure, no other means will 
be successful. 

F is sometimes formed by the close approximation of both lips instead of the 
lower lip and upper teeth : but the tension of the lips necessary for this formation 
is as ungraceful as it is fettering to the general maxillary action. 

A loosely formed P sounds like F, by the breath not being perfectly intercepted. 

The following Exercises will give distinctiveness to the labial actions : — 
apfa, epfe, ipfi, opfo, upfoo ; — afpa, efpe, &c. 
pafa pafa pafa pafa pafa, &c. ; fapa fapa fapa fapa fapa, &c. ; — with e, i, o, oo. 
pafafapa, pafafapa, &c. ; fapapafa, fapapafa, &c. ; — with e, i, o, oo. 

T 



146 AUTICULAT10NS-F. 

F and Th sound very much alike, if their respective actions are not fr inly 
and sharply performed. They are both semi-dental articulations : F is lalrio- 
dental, and Th lingua-dmtal ; — and there is a close resemblance in the manner 
of their formation, which is a continuous breathing between the apposed organ 
and the teeth, followed by the quick removal of the articulating organ, which 
produces an audible percussion of breath. Contrast these articulations in the 
following Exercise : — 



fatha fatha fatha, &c. ) .- . . ■ ■. M 
thafa thafa thafa, &c. J mihe > 1 > > 00 ' 

fatha thafa,fatha thafa, &c. \ . , . 
thafa fatha, thafa fatha, &c. J wu e ' *' °' 



There is a tendency to vocalize the Breath Articulations before Vocal ones, 
and between vowels : thus, ph=f, in nephew, Stephen, &c. is sounded v : and 
careless speakers pronounce if like iv in such situations. Of is always pro- 
nounced with v instead of/, ov or uv ; but this change has perhaps been sanc- 
tioned for the purpose of distinguishing the word from off. 

F initial combines with I, r, and y in English, as in flight, fright, fury. 
In French it combines also with w, as in fois. F unites with no initial articu- 
lation, except S, as in sphere. 

Exercises. 

Initial. — Feeble, feasible, feet, feed, fiend, field, fear ; fib, 
fifth, fifty, fissure, fidget, finical, filly, filter, film, filial, fixture, 
figure, fiction, fitch, finch ; fable, fame, favour, faith, face, fate, 
fade, faint, feigned, fakir; February, feminine, feoff, feather, 
fender, felt, ferry, fairy, ferula, fecund, fetch ; fabricate, famish, 
fathom, fasces, fascinate, facund, faction, fagot, fang ; fast, 
fastness, fasten ; farm, farce, farthing, fardel ; ferment, firm, 
fervour, first, firs, fern, fir, fertile, firkin ; fuss, fuzz, fund, 
fulminate, fulcrum, fulgid, fur, furze, furtive, furbish, fungus ; 
faucet, fawn, fall, falding, false, falchion, falcon, form, forfeit, 
fortune, forward, fork, fop, fob, fond, font, follow, folly, fox ; fore, 
fourpence, form, forth, force, fort, ford ; foeman, focus ; food, foot, 
fool, full ; fife, five, fine, file, fire ; found, fount, fountain ; foist, 
foil. 

Fl. — Flee, fleece, fleet, fleer ; flippant, flimsy, flitch, flit, 
flint, flicker, fling ; flame, flavour, flail, flake, flagrant ; flemish, 
flesh, fledge, flexible ; flap, flabby, flambeau, flash, flatten, flax, 
flag, flang, flank ; flask ; flaunt ; flirt, ; flummery, fluster, flush, 
flutter, flood, flurry, fhmg ; flaw, floss, flock ; floor, floral ; flow, 



ARTlCULAT10NS_V. 147 

flows, float, flowed, flown ; flew, flues, fluke ; flies, flight; flout, 
flounce, flounder, flower. 

Fr. — Freeman, frieze, frequent ; frippery, frith, fritter, friction, 
frigate ; frame, phrase, frail ; fresh, fret, friend, frenzy, phrenic, 
freckle ; frantic, franchise, fractious, fragment, frank ; fraternal ; 
front, frustrate ; froth, frost, fraudulent, from, frontal, frontis- 
piece, frolic, frock, frog ; frore ; fro, froward, froze ; fruit, frugal, 
frutex, fruition ; fry, fried ; frow, frowzy, frown. 

Fy. — Few, fue, fuel, fugitive, fugleman, fume, funambulist, 
funeral, funicle, fury, fuse, fusee, fusion, futile, future, feud. 

Between vowels. — Reefer ; whiffle, stiffen, different, diffidence, 
sniffle ; Sapphic, daffodil, raffle, gaffer, chaffer ; xephyr, deference, 
heifer ; wafer, safer, chafer ; puffing, buffet, muffle, suffer, 
toughish, roughen ; awful, scoffer, coffin, coffer ; sofa ; truffle, 
roofing ; fifer, stifle, trifle, rifle. 

Before an articulation. — Caftan, abaft, waft, weft, theft, bereft, 
thrift, sifter, shift, softly, doffed, puffed, rebuffed, muffed, reefed, 
chafed, laughed, roofed ; skiffs, chiefs, safes, laughs, serfs, ruffs, 
coughs, oafs, roofs ; fifth, twelfth ; baffling, stifling, trifler ; 
roughness, toughness, stiffnecked. 

F final. — Beef, thief, sheaf, leaf, chief, reef; if, stiff, whiff, 
tiff, skiff ; safe, chafe ; feoff, deaf ; gaff ; chaff, laugh, calf, half ; 
serf; puff, buff, muff, snuff, tough, enough, luff, rough, cuff, huff, 
chough, surf, turf ; wharf, off, cough ; oaf, loaf ; woof, roof, hoof ; 
wife, knife, life, rife ; coif. 



V. 

Observations. — This articulation adds to the action of F a vocal sound. 
The breath which flows between the lip and teeth sets the glottal membranes in 
vibration in its course for V : with this difference of sonorous quality, F and 
V are in every respect the same formation. Our remarks on the articulation of 
F will therefore equally apply to V. V is liable, however, to another kind of 
mispronunciation in the absence or but partial presence of voice. It is a 
source of much beauty in speech to give clear vocality to the articulations of 
this class ; — the vocal vibration must not subside until the disjunctive action 
which completes the articulation is made. All vocal articulations are more or 
less capable of Inflexion, — the continuous formations especially so, — and 
much of the power of an expressive voice lies in the distinct vocality and 
skilful inflexion of these elements. • V should be practised to develop or improve 
this power with as much prolongation as possible, and with varying inflexions ; 



148 ARTIOULATIONS-V. 

care being taken that the sound docs not conic out in jerks, but in an unbroken 
current, and that the organs remain perfectly steady in the articulating position, 
until they are thrown apart by one effort at the cud. When satisfactory vocal 
power has been thus obtained, the articulative action should be practised with 
natural rapidity and in its various combinations. 

Londoners often pronounce w instead of u, and, with strange perversity, v 
instead of w. Thus we hear wessel for vessel, vater for water, werry veil for 
very well ; but this, of course, is only or mainly among the uneducated. 

Combinations of W and V are so difficult as in most cases to require a special 
exercise. The following will be effective. 

vawavawavawavawa, &c. — wavawavawavawava, &c. — with e, i, o, oo. 
vawava, vawava, &c. — wavawa, wavawa, &c. — with e, i, o, oo. 

Pronounce each group of syllables as a word, changing the seat of accent. 

vawawavavawawava, &c wavavawawavavawa, &c with e, i, o, oo. 

As a general exercise on the Labial Articulations, the following arrangement 
of the Three Modes of action will be useful. 

Read the whole line as three words, changing the seat of accent as marked. 

wa ba va, va ba wa, ba va wa, — with e, i, o, oo. 
V initial combines only with y as in view. Vr is a peculiar French combin- 
ation as in Vraie. 

Exercises. 

Initial. — Veal, veer, vehement, venous, venial, vivid, vivify, 
visible, viscous, vitiate, vigilant, vitriol, vidual, vineyard, vindicate, 
vilify, vicar, vigour, veil, vein, vacant, vapour, vase, vague, vagrant, 
vessel, vegetable, veterinary, vetch, vend, venerable, vellum, vel- 
vet, very, vection, vapid, vamp, vascular, vaticide, vanity, van- 
guard, value, vagabond, vastly, varlet, varnish, verb, verberate, 
verdant, verjuice, vermin, vulgar, vulnerable, vulpine, vulture, 
vault, vaunt, voluble, volume, voluntary, vomit, votary, vocal, 
vogue, viper, vibrate, vine, vile, vowel, vouch, voyage, voice, void. 

Between Vowels. — Beaver, weaver, liver, river, quiver, favour, 
wavy, lava, knavish, laving, raven, ever, endeavour, bevel, seven, 
never, leveret, heaven, eleven, cadaverous, tavern, cavern, covet, 
shovel, lover, poverty, sovereign, impoverish, over, woven, oval, 
rover, mover, immovable, stiver, driver, ivy. 

Before an Articulation. — Halved, delved, saved, served, curved, 
loved, roved, moved, rived, wives, leaves, graves, curves, coves, 
knives, lovely, lively,- livelong, javelin, loveknot, evening, move- 
ment. 

Vy. — Vielle, view, viewless. 



ARTICULATIONS— Th. Wf 

Final. — Achieve, eve, thieve, weave, bereave, live, sieve, for- 
give, save, grave, behave, wave, have, carve, salve, halve, serve, 
nerve, love, curve, above, dove, wove, throve, stove, drove, grove, 
five, wive, shrive, drive, rive, hive, missive, votive. 



Th. 

Observations. — This articulation is that which gives the most forward 
action to the tongue, the front edge of which rests equally and lightly on the 
inner surface of the upper teeth, while the breath escapes over the sides of the 
forepart of the tongue. The breath must not be obstructed, or a thick and indis- 
tinct T will be produced. The necessary mechanism of the kind of sound heard 
in Th is simply obstruction of the breath by the tip of the tongue, and a lateral 
passage for the breath ("on one side or both sides) over the fore-part of the tongue. 
The tongue may he either between the teeth, — upon the upper teeth, — on the 
gum, or even on the rim of the palatal arch ; and Th will be produced if the 
issue of the breath be in the way described. 

The second of these is the proper formation, as it is that which most readily 
combines with other lingual movements. The first formation, — namely, the 
placing of the tongue between the teeth, — is a very common mode of untutored 
articulation ; and frequently the "unruly member" is fulsomely protruded, as 
if lapping the air. School-boys have a way, — often a painful one, — of curing 
this vice, by striking the chin upwards, and making the teeth bite the obtru- 
sive member. Yet the number of speakers who continue thus to thrust their 
tongues into unnecessary observation, shows that the biting specific is either not 
very generally adopted, or not of permanent efficacy ; and the adult organ often 
rolls in luxurious ease upon the dental pillows, and stretches itself out even to 
the softer lip, as if rejoicing in full-grown security from the terrors of" chin- 
whack." 

Another faulty formation of Th consists in an inward movement of the lower 
lip to meet the tongue. This gives so much of the character of F to the articu- 
tion, that it is often difficult to know which is the letter intended. F and Th 
are mechanically much alike. The action of the Up for F is precisely analogous 
to that of the tongue for Th. Both organs partially obstruct the breath by 
central contact with the teeth ; and the breath is in both cases emitted through 
lateral interstices. The following Exercise on the actions of F and Th will be 
found useful in imparting articulative energy, and in giving a distinctiveness to 
these elements which is seldom possessed intuitively. 

Pronounce — not the name, but — the articulate sound of the letters F and Th, 
without an intervening vowel. Dwell for some seconds on the F, keeping the whole 
range of the upper teeth in sight, then quickly disengage the articulating lip, 
and place the tongue in the position for th, resting in this position with both 
ranges of teeth in sight for a few seconds ; and then withdraw the tongue ener- 



150 ARTICULATIONS— Th. 

getically, ami assume the position for F, as before : ami so on alternately, till 
the actions can be reiterated with rapidity, — f-th-f-th-f-th-f-th-f-th-f-th, fyc. 

The vowels may then be placed before and after the combination ; and the two 
syllables so formed should be pronounced with natural rapidity and perfect dis- 
tinctness. Thus, af-tha, ef-the, if-thi, &c. ; and, conversely, ath-fa, eth-fe, &c. 

Th is sometimes sounded instead of s : this constitutes one form of what is 
called Lisping. Combinations of th and s present an articulative difficulty which 
should be mastered by careful practice. Exercises will be found under the head 
ofS. 

Th is not heard in French : the digraph is written, but it is pronounced t. 
Frenchmen have so great a difficulty in articulating the English Th, that it is 
a rare thing to find one of them so far naturalized to the English tongue as to 
be capable of uttering this shibboleth. The difficulty arises only from ignorance of 
the nature of the formation ; just as the Englishman's difficulty in giving the Gallic 
effect to the French semi-nasal elements is the result of a want of knowledge of 
the true mechanism of the sounds. A clear understanding of the formation of 
the peculiar elements would make their production the work of half an hour's 
practice. 

A Breath form of L is a common substitution for Th among children ; and 
even older tongues will sometimes be found to utter the cacophony. Nothing can 
be more simple than the cause of this error, and the means of its correction. 

To the Stammerer Th presents another source of impediment besides those 
already noticed. This lies in the action of the tongue. The heavy conjunctive 
force of the articulative action, impels the tongue with unmanageable pressure 
against the teeth, till it is either protruded from the mouth, or rolled up behind 
the lower teeth, so as to occasion a complete blockade. The mere occlusion of 
the mouth would not necessarily lead to difficulty, for many of the articulations 
are perfectly obstructive ; but continued pressure creates impediment. The 
organs must in all cases start off from their articulating positions with rapidity 
and energy. The tongue in forming Th, for instance, takes its articulative posi- 
tion against the teeth, as above described ; but its articulative action, without 
which the clement is incomplete, is a smart recoil of the tongue, so as perfectly 
to separate it from the teeth. 

It is an important general principle of lingual articulation, that the point of 
the tongue should always be directed upwards, or at least horizontally. It 
should never touch the lower teeth : — it should never descend into the lower jaw. 
In practising its recoil from the various articulating positions to lighten a heavy 
impedimental action, the movements should be carefully watched before a glass ; 
and if the string of the tongue (the framum) be always kept in sight, the pro- 
trusive and downward habits of heavy action will soon be subdued. The mus- 
cular power of the tongue may be so greatly increased by exercise, and brought 
under the power of volition, that the Stammerer will hesitate to call it, in a 
mechanical sense, an " unruly member." We have often, in a few days drilled 
into activity and precision of action, a tongue which formerly lay lumpish and inert 
in the mouth ; and, by the power of well directed exercise alone, we have so 



ARTICULATIONS— Th. 151 

reduced its apparent bulk; that whereas at first it seemed altogether dispropor- 
tioned to the mouth, it has learned to stow itself within the ample cavity, almost 
out of sight. Veiy rarely does the heaviest and hugest looking tongue, need more 
than such a drilling to give it nimbleness and tapering elegance. When the for- 
mation of Th is from any cause imperfect, let the following means of practice be 
pursued. Place the tongue carefully in the articulating position, and continue 
it steadily there, the breath flowing all the time, for some seconds : then quickly 
withdraw it, by one action as far back and down in the mouth as possible, keeping 
its under surface in sight. The finger may be placed at the angle of the neck 
and chin, and the descent of the tongue will be distinctly felt, when it is effec- 
tively managed. In this way let the syllables 

12 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 

eeth, ith, aith, eth, ath, ath, arth, earth, urth, fawrth, ourth, oth, ootli, 

\6tli, 
and words ending with th be practised. Then th before vowels : the tongue 
resting steadily for an instant against the teeth, and the succeeding vowel being 
enounced with explosive fulness. Lastly, TJi before w, r, and y, should receive 
a special exercise, in the same way, — the tongue retreating with rapidity and a 
forcible propulsion of the breath, after resting for an instant in the articulating 
position. In a short time, — short in proportion to the energy and amount of 
practice, — tins articulation will be perfectly mastered ; and not only it, but lingual 
power will be so developed, that all the elements produced by the agency of the 
tongue will be greatly improved. 

Th, though a double character, is a simple articulation, and should be re- 
presented by a single letter in the alphabet. H, the sign of aspiration, is added 
to P, to represent a continuous formation by the lips, viz. F : it is added to T and 
S, to represent continuous formations by the tongue, viz. Th and Sh : and in some 
languages, we find other combinations with h. In Gaelic, for instance, Eh and 
Mh sound V ; but the latter has this peculiarity, that it gives a nasal effect to the 
adjoining vowel. 

The vowels exhibit a tendency to prolongation when before this element ; for 
the articulation being continuous, and its seat far advanced in the mouth, the 
vowels cannot be so readily stopped by it as by obstructive and posterior for- 
mations. 

Th initial unites in English with w, r, and y, as in thwart, throne, thurible. 
It blends with no initial articulation. It is often found in combinations where 
its proper articulation requires some little art ; as in heaths, healthful, eighths, 
ninths, sixthly, twelfths, depths, widths, lengthwise, &c. 

Exercises on Th. 
Initial. — Thank, tharm, thatch, thaumatrope, thaw, theatre, 
theism, theme, theocracy, theory, theriac, thermal, thesis, theurgy, 
thick, thief, thieve, thigh, thimble, thill, thin, thing, think, 
third, thirst, thirteen, thirty, thistle, thong, thorax, thorn, thought, 
thousand, thumb, thump, thunder, Thursday, thyroid, thyrse. 



I H ARTICULATIONS— Th. 

Tko. — Thwack, thwart, thwitten, thwaite, thwittle. 
Thr. — Thrall, thrash, thrasonical, thread, threat, three, 
threshold, threw, thrice, thrive, thrift, thrill, through, throat, 
throb, throe, throve, throng, throttle, throstle, throw, thrum, 
thrush, thrust. 

Thy. — Thew, thurable, thuriferous, thurification, enthusiasm. 

Between Vowels. — Ether, pithy, mythology, cithern, lithograph, 
lithic, lithophyte, bathos, pathos, mathematics, lathy, mothy, 
frothy, nothing, toothache, ethics, atheist, catholic, dithyramb, 
method, plethora, apothecary, spathic, rhythm, logarithm, lethal, 
lethargy. 

Before an articulation. — Ethnic, ethmoid, ethnology, athletic, 
athwart, deathful, deathwatch, deathlike, earthly, earthquake, 
earthworm, faithful, scathless, pathless, pathway, plethrum, 
truthful, ruthless, sheath-winged, slothful, worthless, months, 
girths, moths, (truths, cloths.*) 

Final. — Sheath, teeth, wreath, heath ; pith, plinth, frith, sith, 
faith ; saith, death, health, wealth, stealth ; hath ; path, bath, 
lath ; birth, mirth, earth, dearth, girth ; doth, worth ; broth, 
cloth, moth, froth, wrath ; oath, both, loth ; sooth, tooth, truth, 
ruth ; mouth, south. 



Th, (vocal.) 

Observations. — This is the same articulation as the preceding-, but with 
the addition of vocality during its formation. There is no distinction made 
in our Orthography of these elements, but the difference between their sounds 
is the same as between F and V, P and B, &c. Thus not only is our alphabet 
deficient of simple characters to represent this and the preceding element, but 
we confound the two, by using for both the same digraph. To be consistent 
we should write this sound Dh. 

Our remarks on the formation of Th (breath), and on the difficulties and 
peculiarities of its articulation, equally apply to this vocal Th ; and the same 
sort of praxis recommended for the former will, with voice added, be found 
effective for the correction of faults in the latter. In prolonging this element, 
the voice should be heard, not in abrupt jets, but in one unbroken flow: from 
the interstitial nature of the apertures through which the breath passes, a 
degree of hissing will at the same time be produced. The retraction of the 

* These two words are often pronounced with th vocal-=clothz, truthz. 



ARTICULATIONS— S. 153 

tongue which finishes the articulation should not be followed by any effort of 
voice, — the sound must cease at the instant of lingual separation. Tliis is a 
general principle of articulation ; for, if a vocal sound escape after the articulating 
organs are disjoined, it must evidently be a vowel ; and such an addition, — by 
no means uncommon, — gives a drawling, " humming and hawing " effect to 
speech, which fidgets the listener into impatience. 

Custom has vocalized the th in the plural of a few words which have its 
breath-form in the singular : as in path — pa^s, oath — oaths, mouth — mouths, 
bath — baths, lath — laths. The reason of this change does not seem very ob- 
vious ; for it is just as easy to pronounce ths in these cases as thz. A similar 
change, however, takes place in F, which is vocalized from calf to calves, loaf 
to loaves, &c. We have explained the analogy between the mechanisms of F 
and Th, (page 145,) which may account for these elements being thus cor- 
respondently influenced. 

Exercises. 

Initial. — Than, that, those, the, thee, their, them, then, 
thence, there, these, they, thine, this, thither, though, thou, 
thus, thy, thyine. 

Between vowels. — Wither, whither, thither, hither, heathen, 
either, teething, bathing, tether, nether, leather, heather, lather, 
fathom, gather, rather, father, mother, t'other, other, fother, 
bother, southern, clothing, loatheth, soothing, mouthing, writhing. 

Before an articulation. — Litheness, lithesome, blithely, blithe- 
ness, blithesome, loathsome, clothes, wreaths, lathes, baths, 
booths, mouths, paths, oaths, sheathed, loathed, bathed, writhed, 
mouthed, swathed, smoothed. 

Final. — Seethe, sheath, teeth, (v.) neath, beneath, wreathe, 
with ; bathe, lathe, spathe, swathe ; loathe, clothe ; booth, soothe, 
smooth ; withe, scythe, tithe, writhe, lithe ; mouth, (v.) 



S. 

Observations. — The peculiar mechanism requisite to produce the clear 
hissing sound heard in this letter, is a single and very contracted aperture for 
the emission of the breath over the centre of the fore-part (not the tip) of the 
tongue, when, without much elevation from the bed of the lower jaw, it is 
closely approximated to the upper gum. The tongue is otherwise in contact 
with the teeth and gum, so as to obstruct the breath at all parts but the point, 
which is sufficiently squared to prevent its touching the front teeth. The 
slightest projection of the tip brings it against the teeth, and, by partially 

U 



154 ARTICULATIONS— S. 

intercepting the breath at that point, modifies the sound into that of th ; and 
the least retraction of the tongue from the precise point of the true formation, 
causes the middle of the tongue to ascend towards the arch of the palate, and 
modifies the current of breath into the sound of sh. No element of speech is so 
often and so variously faulty as S, and yet there is rarely much trouble 
required to correct its irregularities. Among the most common imperfections 
of this sound, we may note four leading varieties, which are sometimes found 
as marked and separate blemishes, and often in some degree of combination, 
which renders the precise nature of the peculiarity less evident, at the same 
time that the existence of a defect is manifest and unquestionable. 

The first fault of S which we would notice, is that caused by the contact of 
the tip of the tongue with the teeth, or its projection between the teeth. This 
produces the sound of Th. Some people reckon this a fascinating charm, — 
especially in maiden mouths, — a mark of guileless innocence and simplicity ; 
because, forsooth, the " thame thweet thort ofthound" is often heard in the 
innocent prattle of childhood. There can be but one opinion as to its puerility ; 
it must therefore be an unbecoming habit in those who have outgrown the 
years of childishness. 

Another form of defect arises from the^a* expansion of the tongue over the 
lower teeth. This is a lazy -looking and peculiarly unprepossessing fault. It 
is too much allied to the aspect of imbecility to be tolerable from any other 
cause. 

In a third form, the point of the tongue is depressed behind the lower teeth, 
and the breath hisses between the elevated middle of the tongue and the palate. 
In this case, the teeth are too much apart to allow of sufficient sharpness in the 
sound ; and the lower lip is therefore frequently employed to direct the stream 
into a narrower channel, by rising upwards, or folding itself inwards, to 
meet the upper teeth. By these means a very close resemblance to the sound 
of S is produced ; and if we could not see its mechanism, we might often be 
inclined to pass it without notice, but it is so conspicuously deforming to the 
mouth that we are glad to turn our eyes from the speaker's face. These 
defects are commonly called, indiscriminately, by the general name, Lisping. 

Another cacophonic substitution for S is a hissing over the sides of the back 
of the tongue, something like, but with less free apertures than, the breath form 
of L, which is heard in Welsh, represented in that language by LI. This is a 
cluttering disagreeable sound ; and it is generally accompanied by other faults 
of lingual action. The inarticulate confusion of speech which results, is com- 
monly called " thickness." 

With reference to the method of correcting these and other imperfections, we 
would be less careful to mark out the exact cause of the defect, than to illustrate 
and clearly point out the true mechanism of the sound which is defective ; and, 
by varied experiments, and exercises on analogous and kindred formations, 
to induce the organs to fall into the unaccustomed position, perhaps uncon- 
sciously and unexpectedly at first on the part of the pupil. In this way, the 
association between the letter and the malformation will gradually be broken, 



ARTICULATIONS— S. 155 

and the new form of articulation may in a very short time be fixed into 
a habit. 

The analogy between the articulative actions of R and S is generally of 
much service in leading the tongue to the position for the latter element. A 
whispered R may be modified into S, by bringing the teeth as close as possible 
without actual contact, and depressing the tip of the tongue to a horizontal 
position, during the flow of the breath. Sometimes mechanical assistance 
facilitates the acquisition of the S : a paper cutter held between the teeth 
furnishes a convenient ledge on which the point of the tongue may lie until it 
acquires the power of moulding itself to the required shape. 

We have hitherto described only the articulating position of S, — but the 
element is not finished without the retraction of the tongue from that position. 
The forcible practice of this part of the articulation will greatly tend to give 
ease and rapidity in executing the S, and in managing the tongue in the 
various evolutions of general speech. Let the S, when the sound is tolerably 
correct, be prolonged to the limit of expiration, and by this exercise its 
sharpness will be increased, and any wasteful issue of breath checked. Each 
prolonged hiss should have the articulative finish, by abruptly drawing in the 
tongue. The breath compressed within the mouth will then be emitted 
explosively ; but it must be altogether voiceless. 

Another highly improving exercise consists in stopping the hissing sound of 
S, by repeated appulses of the tongue against the palate — producing the com- 
bination St-St-St, &c. The action of the tongue from S to T should be back- 
wards and upwards: — a common heaviness of speech arises from striking the 
tongue forward to the gum or teeth, or from simply pressing it upward, without 
a change of position. In the combination st (and sts, which the quick reite- 
ration of st produces also) there are few persons who exhibit distinctness and 
lightness of articulation. A little practice of the lingual exercises prescribed in 
our pages will give facility to all who desire that, their speech shall be something 
more than a u mere brute instinct, by which," as Dr Rush remarks, "some 
persons only bleat, bark, bray, whinny, and mew, — a little better than others." 

Some difficulty may be found at first in managing these alternations of s and 
t, from the little space within which the tongue has to make so decided an 
action. The student will be inclined to a most destructive waste of breath in 
the effort to give T its articulative finish ; but let him patiently persevere, 
uttering as long a series as he can, with each expiration, and he will insensibly, 
yet steadily, improve. 

St is common in English, both as a final and as an initial combination. 
Such awkward clusters of consonants as in the following words are, therefore, 
of frequent occurrence '.—fits and starts, tastes and distastes, states, statists, 
statistics. 

To enable him to enounce these clearly, and without any harsh interruption 
of continuity, the student should practise the following Table : — 

Est-ste, ist-stist, ast-sta, est-stest, ast-stast, ust-stust, ost-stost, ost-sto, 
oost-stoo. 



156 ARTICULATIONS— S. 

Similar combinations of S with P and K are likewise very common ; but they 
do not present so great a difficulty as the preceding, because the obstructive 
element is produced by the action of a different part of the mouth from that 
which forms the S. 

The following also should be practised until fluency is obtained : — 
Ast, est, ist, ost, ust ; asp, esp, isp, osp, usp ; ask, esk, isk, osk, usk. 

Note. — In this exercise the explosive finish of the T, P, and K must not be 
allowed to coalesce with the next vowel. In the most rapid iteration, the 
syllables must be ast, ast, ast, &c. and not astastast, &o. 

Esp-spe, isp-spisp, asp-spa, esp-spesp, asp-spasp, usp-spusp, osp-sposp, 
osp-spo, oosp-spoo. 

Esk-ske, isk-skisk, ask-ska, esk-skesk, ask-skask, usk-skusk, osk-skosk, 
osk-sko, oosk-skoo. 

S and Th present an articulative difficulty when they meet without an inter- 
vening vowel. The action of the tongue from one to the other is exceedingly 
limited — but it must be firm and decided, to render the combination distinct. 
The change from the position of S to that of Th, consists in tapering and ad- 
vancing the tip of the tongue. The whole tongue must not be pushed con- 
tinuously forward, but the mere tip should just touch the teeth — as high as 
possible — by a rapid and distinct motion ; the change from the one position to 
the other being accompanied by the audible, articulative finish of the first 
element. Let the student endeavour to produce a long series of these articula- 
tions — thus : s-th-s-th-s-th-s-th-s-th-s-th-s-th, fyc. 

Then let him prefix and subjoin a vowel to the combinations — thus : 

ace tha, ece the, ice thi, oce tho, 60s thoo, 

aith sa, eeth see, ithe si, oath so, ooth soo, 

&s thSs, es thes, is this, os thos, us thus, 

ath s&th, eth seth, ith sith, oth soth, uth suth. 

When these have been sufficiently practised, the following arrangement of 
syllables containing S and Th alternately initial, should be mastered. The 
perplexing difficulty they present, renders them well worthy of the student's 
care : for in overcoming this difficulty a great degree of organic power is 
gained, which must produce a beneficial effect upon articulation generally. 

Pronounce the combinations as words, with varying accents ; and repeat 
each of them several times with the same expiration. 

tha sa, tha sa tha, tha sa sa tha, \ .,-- . . 

sa tha, sa tha sa, sa tha tha sa, j 

When S final comes before S initial, as in " The Alps sublime," the neat 

articulation of the double consonant requires a little art. Practise the following. 

ace say, ece see, ice sigh, oce so, 00s soo, 

ass sass, ess cess, iss sis, oss soss, us sus. 

The difficulty of doubling articulative actions without awkward hiatus has 

led many Elocutionists to advise the omission of one in such combinations. 

Whoever could rest satisfied with saying " the Ethiopian's kin and the leopard's 



ARTICULATIONS— S. 157 

pots," when he meant " the Ethiopian's skin and the leopard's spots" may 
follow the tasteless counsel ; but we trust all others will rather spend an hour 
or two in drilling their organs into the necessary lightness of action, or else — 
be distinct, even at the expense of hiatus. 

S is an extremely difficult articulation to Stammerers. In general, they have 
no difficulty in producing the hissing sound ; they can take the articulative 
position, but they cannot add to that the necessary action which must finish 
the element. The hissing is thus continued till the lungs are almost exhausted ; 
— and the Stammerer cannot stop the destructive waste. The fault here lies 
mainly with the glottis, which, in a non-vibrating position for the S, will not 
take the vocalizing posture for the succeeding vowel with sufficient readiness ; 
and the chest aggravates the impediment which this occasions, by bearing down 
heavily upon the lungs, while probably the ungovernable jaw adds its share 
also to the difficulty. General practice on the actions of the various organs 
implicated in the stammer, is the only sure ground of cure. When the power 
of government over these has been in some degree acquired, exercises on the 
difficult articulation will be of much service ; but until the chest and glottis — 
or, as we may call them, the producing organs, are brought under voluntary 
control, it will be of little use to practise the merely modifying actions of arti- 
culation. Partial and temporary relief may be obtained by simple articulative 
practice, but to give a rational ground of hope for permanent benefit, the exer- 
cises must begin with the deeper and more occult principles of respiratory and 
vocal government. 

The Stammerer should practise the prolonged S, as before described, till he 
can form the sound with a very economical expenditure of breath. He should 
then give out a long series of very short articulated hisses — drawing the 
tongue smartly and completely back in the mouth, to finish each of them. 
Then let him stop the S by the various articulative actions which combine with 
it, adding the vowels to them for a subsequent exercise. By patient practice, 
difficulty after difficulty in execution will gradually give way, and he will be 
able to enounce this element with easy fluency. 

The English language has been called the " hissing tongue," as if it, much 
more than its neighbour languages, abounded with this serpent sound. The 
removal of S from some of our combinations might certainly add to the euphony 
of our speech ; but a comparison either of its letters or its sounds with those 
of the French, Italian, and Spanish languages, will show that the English is far 
from having the unenvied distinction. We have taken the trouble to compare 
some passages of equal length in these four languages, to ascertain the number 
of the hissing elements S and Z, actually pronounced in them, and the following 
is the result. In a French, Spanish, and English translation of the same 
passage— there were found to be in the French, 60 \ of these sibi- 

" " English, 65 C lants actually 
11 " Spanish, 110 ) sounded. 

In the French paragraph there were 93 sibilant letters, while in the 
English one there were only 77. 



158 ARTICULATIONS— S. 

Still further to test this, we took a passage in Italian, containing the same 
number of words as in the Spanish portion, and found, even in this smooth 
euphonic tongue, a preponderance of 5 of these sibilants over the number con- 
tained in our decried English : which is thus proved to be " more hissed at 
than hissing !" 

S initial combines with P, T, K, F, M, N, L, W, Y, as in sport, store, scope, 
sketch, square, sphere, smile, snow, slow, swear, sue. It enters into combi- 
nation with no initial articulation in English utterance. In such words as 
psalm, psychology, fyc. the p is therefore silent. 



Exercises. 

Initial. — Sea, sebacious, seethe, seize, cease, seat, seed, scene, 
seal, sear, seek, sip, sibilant, symbol, symmetry, sift, sieve, 
sister, scissors, scission, sit, sinew, scintillate, since, silly, silk, sickle, 
signify, sink, single, say, sapient, sable, same, safe, saviour, sage, 
sane, sail, saleable, sake, sago saint, salient, separate, semblance, 
seminary, cemetery, cepbalalgy, seven, saith, sessile, says, session, 
sedge, settle, said, send, sentence, sense, sensual, celery, serry, 
serrated, second, segregate, sect, segment, sash, sarcasm, sardonyx, 
sarse, salve, saunter, sir, serpent, sermon, serf, servant, sirs, search, 
serge, circle, circuit, certain, sup, suburb, subtile, some, suffer, 
southern, sustenance, subtle, suttler, sudden, sun, sully, surd, surge, 
surly, surrogate, surf, surcle? suck, suggest, saw, sauce, saws, salt, 
solder, sawed, sawn, sop, sob, somnolent, soft, sot? sod, sonnet, sole- 
cism, sorrel, sorrow, soften, sorcery, sore, sword, source, sores, sow, 
soap, sober, sofa, sown, soul, soldier, sojourn, soho, soup, soothe, 
soot, soon, sigh, cipher, scythe, size, sight, side, sign, silent, 
sire, sow, south, souse, sows, sound, sour, soy, soil, samphire, saffron, 
sapphire, savage, sassafras, saginate, Saturday, saddle, sanative, 
salad, salique, saraband, sacrament, sagamore, sagathy, satchel. 

Sp. — Speak, speech, speed, spear, spit, spin, spill, spirit, spathe, 
space, spade, spake, sped, spend, spell, spelt, speck, spasm, spatter, 
span, sparrow, sparse, spark, sperm, spirt, disperse, sputter, sponge, 
spurs, spurge, spurn, spawn, sport, spoke, spoon, spy, spice, spite, 
spied, spine, spire, spike, spouse, spout, spoil. 

Spr. — Sprain, sprat, sprawl, spray, spread, sprig, spright, 
spring, sprinkle, sprit, sprout, spruce, sprung, express, disprove. 

Spl. — Splash, splay, spleen, splenetic, splendent, splice, splint, 
splutter, displease, explain. 



ARTICULATIONS— S. 159 

Spy. — spume, spurious, spumescence, dispute. 

Sm. — Smear, smith, smell, smatter, smash, smart, smirk, 
smirch, smuggle, smother, small, smalt, smoke, smote, smoulder, 
smooth, smile, smite. 

Sw. — Suasive, assuage, suavity, swab, swaddle, swag, swagger, 
swain, swallow, swamp, swan, swap, sward, swarm, swart, swarth, 
swash, swath, swathe, sway, swear, sweat, sweet, sweep, swell, 
swept, swerve, swift, swig, swill, swim, swindle, swine, swing, 
swinge, swiss, switch, swivel, swoon, swoop, swore, swung, dissuade, 
desuetude, persuasion. 

Sf. — Sphere, sphinx, sphacelus, sphagnum, spheric, sphincter. 

St. — Steep, steam, steed, steel, steer, stipulate, stimulate, stiff, 
stitch, still, stick, stickle, sting, stays, stage, state, staid, 
stain, stale, steak, step, stem, steady, stellar, stab, static, stadt- 
holder, stand, stanza, stallion, stack, stagger, stang, staff, statis- 
tic, stalactite, starve, stars, starch, start, stark, stir, stern, sterling, 
stubborn, stumble, stuff, stud, stutter, stun, stunt, stuck, stung, 
stop, stock, storm, stork, stalk, stall, store, story, stored, stow, 
stowed, stole, stone, stoker, stoop, stood, stool, sty, stipend, stifle, 
stiver, style, stout, stound. 

Str. — Strabism, straggle, straddle, straight, strain, strand, 
strange, strangle, strap, strategy, strath, stratum, straw, stray, 
streak, stream, street, strength, strenuous, stress, stretch, strew, 
striae, stricken, strict, stride, stridulous, strike, struck, string, 
strung, strip, stripe, strobil, strokal, stroll, strong, strontian, strop, 
strophe, strove, structure, struggle, struma, strut, strychnia. 

Sty.—- Studious, stupe, stupor, stupid, stew, steward, astute. 

Sy. — Sue, subah, sudatory, suet, suicide, suit, suitable, sumach, 
superable, superb, supine, supreme, sural, sutile, suture, superior, 
assume, consume, disuse, pursuit. 

Sn. — Sneeze, sneak, snip, snack, snaffle, snag, snail, snake, 
snap, snare, snarl, snatch, sneer, sniff, snipe, snivel, snore, snout, 
snow, snub, snuff, snudge, snug. 

SI. — Slab, slam, slack, slag, slain, slake, slander, slang, slant, 
slap, slash, slate, slattern, slaughter, slave, slaver, Slavonic, slag, 
sleeve, sleezy, sled, sledge, sleek, sleep, sleet, slept, sleight, slender, 
slice, slide, slight, slily, slime, sling, slung, slink, slip, slit, sliver, 
sloat, sloe, sloop, slop, slope, sloth, slouch, slough, (uf) slough, (7-1 3) 



HiO ARTICULATIONS— S. 

Sk. — Scale, scab, skate, scheme, sky, scope, Scotch, score, 
scoop, scuffle, sculk, scullery, sculpture, scum, scupper, scurf, 
scurvy, scurrile, scut, scuttle. 

Ski. — Sclavonian, Sclavonic, sclerotic. 

Skr. — Scrabble, scrag, scramble, scrap, scrape, scratch, 
scrawl, scream, screech, screen, screw, scribble, scribe, scripture, 
scrivener, scrip, scrofula, scroll, scrub, scruple, scrutable, scruze, 
scrutoire. 

Sky. — Skew, skewer, scutellated, excuse. 

Skw. — Squab, squabble, squadron, squalid, squalor, squall, 
squamous, squander, square, squashy squat, squaw, squeak, 
squeal, squeamish, squeeze, squelch, squib, squill, squinancy, 
squint, squire, squirrel, squirt. 

Before a vowel. — (Esophagus, unceasing, thesis, missile, viscid, 
whistle, thistle, scissile, dissonant, listen, glisten, gristle, basin, 
mason, phasis, tacit, casing, pestle, message, vessel, sesame, 
sessile, jessamine, tessellate, desultory, necessary, lesson, wrestle, 
crescent, progressive, essence, essay, assident, assassin, acid, 
acetate, passable, massive, fascinate, vacillate, tacit, lassitude, 
veracity, cassowary, crassitude, glacis, (ece) glacier, glassy 
grassy, facile, bustle, throstle, faucet, saucer, possible, mossy, 
fossil, wassail, jostle, docile, tossing, Cossack, crossing, glos- 
sary, closer, grocer, looser, excuses, (s.) producer, juicy, pussy, 
mucilage, spicy, vices, enticing, dicer, crisis, sousing, rejoic- 
ings. 

Before an articulation. — East, easterly, beast, feasts, yeast, 
ceased, least, creased, priest ; pristine, blister, mist, fist, vista, 
wist, whist, sister, systole, gist, distaff, list, wist, kissed, Christian, 
grist, glister, hist ; paste, baste, waist, taster, laced, cased, graced, 
hasty, chaste, pester, west, fester, vestry, westerly, zest, jesting, 
attest, destitute, nest, lest, dressed, rest, wrested, yesterday, crest, 
behest, chest ; past, repast, pasture, pastime, bastard, mastiff, fast, 
vastness, last, lastly, caste, classed ; pustule, busts, mustard, fusty, 
justice, dost, lust, rust, custom, gust, crust, cluster, pursed, burst, 
worst, durst, nursed, cursed ; posture, foster, wast, tossed, lost, cross- 
ed, costs, glossed, accost, hostage ; post, boast, most, toast, roast, 
coast, engrossed, ghost, host ; spliced, iced, enticed ; moisture, foist, 
hoist ; lisp, wisps, crisp, clasps, rasp, gasp, grasp, hasp, asps, wasps, 



ARTICULATIONS— Z. 161 

whisper, vesper, despicable, respite, aspect, jasper, grasping, 
prosper, auspicate, hospital, hospitable : episcopal, biscuit, fiscal, 
viscous, whisker, disc, frisk, risk, fescue, desks, grotesque, bur- 
lesque, rescue, ask, bask, masks, flasks, tasks, casks, rascal, busk, 
buskin, musk, musket, tusks, dusk, dusky, rusks, husky, bosky, 
Moscow, sixth sixths. 

S final. — Piece, cease, lease, crease, grease, miss, thesis, bodice, 
analysis, kiss, hiss, pace, bass, mace, face, lace, race, case, chase, 
purchase, mess, chess, less, graceless, linkless, gas, mass, lass, 
pass, parse, farce, carse, amerse, erse, verse, terse, hearse, us, 
fuss, courageous, righteous, purse, disburse, worse, nurse, curse, 
sauce, morse, gorse, horse, boss, moss, foss, toss, loss, cross, gloss, 
force, source, course, coarse, hoarse, gross, close, (a.) noose, loose, 
moose, abuse, (s.) diffuse, (a.) puss, spruce, juice, goose, mice, 
vice, thrice, entice, paradise, dice, nice, rice, mouse, souse, grouse, 
house, voice, rejoice, choice. 



Observations. — This element unites a vocal sound with the hissing of S. 
Its articulative position and action are in every respect the same as those of S. 
It is consequently liable to the same kind of defects, in lisping, &c ; and the 
exercises prescribed for S, will, with voice added, be equally effective in 
perfecting Z. Thus, 

thaza ; tha za tha ; tha za za tha 7 ..-, 

zatha; za tha za; za tha tha za | e ' *' °' 00 ' 

In the following arrangements V is added for the sake of contrast with Th, 
(see page 146.) 

za va tha tha za va va tha za "> .,, n ' .' 

.Z x , -i >■ with e, i, o, oo. 

za tha va tha va za va za tha ) 

Z is not so difficult to the Stammerer as S ; for if he can produce the vocal 
sound in the articulation, he can have no difficulty, except what is merely 
articulative, in connecting it with a following vowel. But often the voice pro- 
duced in Z is a mere murmur, — a momentary, feeble, breathy sound, which is 
as ineffectual as none. In this case all the difficulty of S will be experienced. 
To overcome this impediment, glottal power must first be acquired m the 
formation of clear ringing vocality, and the chest exercised to restrain any 
undue pressure in expiration. The buzzing sound of Z may be produced in a 
long continuous current, and finished by the quick retraction of the tongue, 
before described. Naturally abrupt articulations of the same element should 

X 



Iti2 ARTICULATIONS-Z. 

then be practised, separately, and with vowels subjoined ; the teeth opening 
freely after the articulative action, that the succeeding vowel may be emitted in 
a full energetic volume. 

Z initial combines only with Y ; and but in the few words given in our list. 
It joins with no initial articulation. 



Exercises. 

Initial.— Zaccho, zaffre, zany, zarnich, zea, zeine, zeal, zealous, 
zebra, zebu, zedoary, Zend, zenith, zeolite, zephyr, zero, zest, zig- 
zag, zimome, zinc, zircon, zocle, zodaic, zone, zoography, zoology, 
zoophyte, zufolo, zymology, zygomatic, zygodactylous. 

Zy. — zumic, zumate, zumology, zeugma. 

Between voicels. — Besom, easy, wheezing, weasel, reason, busy, 
busily, mistletoe, physiognomy, visit, wizard, dizzy, risen, gizzard, 
grizzle, mazy, daisy, nasal, laziness, razor, brazen, crasy, gazer, 
grazing, glazer, hazy, Jezebel, desert, resignation, resin, hesitate, 
azimuth, azote, basilisk, mazard, gaseous, hazardous, puzzle, 
dozen, nuzzle, muzzle, cousin, halser, pausing, causative, gauzy, 
positive, nozzle, lozenge, rosin, closet, posy, frozen, disposer, 
dozing, rosiness, closing, glozer, hosanna, oozing, losel, cruiser, 
choosing, despiser, miser, wiseacre, supervisor, sizar, rising, spousal, 
drowsy, mouser, rousing, housing, noisy, noisome, schism, spasm. 

Before an articulation. — Spasmodic, jasmine, phantasmagoria, 
pismire, bismuth, dismal, prismatic, chrismal, cosmetic, cosmical, 
husband, wisdom, prismoid, osmazome, Osnaburg, grisly, guzzler, 
fizgig, vizier, Jesuit. 

Final. — Ease, breeze, freeze, wheeze, these, seize, tease, sneeze, 
please, keys, agrees, grease, (v.) cheese, is, phiz, worthies, 'tis, 
ladies, carries, quiz, orgies, his, pays, baize, maize, fays, vase, 
ways, chaise, craze, glaze, haze ; says, bars, mars, jars, tars, cars, 
sirs, firs, hers, buzz, furze, slurs, curs, pause, flaws, thaws, saws, 
jaws, laws, clause, gauze, oars, pores, boars, fours, sores, stores, 
shores, doors, roars, cores, owes, poze, beaus, mows, foes, woes, 
those, sews, toes, doze, nose, rose, close, (v.) goes, gloze, grows, 
hose, chose, pews, imbues, mews, views, thews, sues, shoes, Jews, 
contuse, dues, news, lose, ruse, cooes, glues, hues, choose, eyes, 
pies, buys, surmise, suffice, vies, wise, thighs, sighs, ties, dies, lies, 
rise, cries, guise, vows, sows, allows, rows, cows, poise, boys, joys, 
toys, noise, alloys, destroys, cloys. 



ARTICULATIONS— R. 103 



R. 



Observations. — This element is produced when the breath is directed over 
the upturned tip of the tongue, so as to cause some degree of lingual vibration. 
In order to effect this, the breath must be perfectly obstructed at all other points, 
that the whole force of the stream may be concentrated on the tip ; and the 
tongue must be held loosely, to enable it to vibrate readily. The vibration may 
be produced in every degree from the soft tremor of the English R, which merely 
vibrates the edge of the tongue, to the harsh rolling of the Spanish Rr, which 
shakes the whole organ. The trilled or strongly vibrated R is never used in 
English; but there are various degrees of vibration which characterize the Eng- 
lish R in different situations. 

Between vowels, as in merit, the R is strongest, but it has only a momentary 
tremor ; for articulations between vowels are always short in English. R is 
never, like n or I, prolonged when two articulations meet in a compound word ; 
as in meanness, foully, §~c. ; the reason is, that R final is differently formed from 
R initial. Both letters have their regular formation in this position ; as in 

7-1-8 10 1-8 5 

wi-re-wrought, rear -rank, &c. 

R initial has an articulative vibration ; but it is merely of the edge of the 
tongue, just enough to constitute the sound an articulation. 

When the tongue is so placed as just to feel the passing stream of air not 
yield to it, we have the condition of thefnal R. The aperture for the emission 
of the voice is so free, that the vowel quality of the sound is scarcely, — if at all, 
— affected. When the succeeding word, however, begins with a vowel, the 
final r has generally the effect of medial r, to avoid hiatus. 

Exercises on Final R (the 8th vowel) will be found at page 107. 

No letter is more frequently faulty than this. The extremes of error are to 
throw the articulation back to the uvula, or forward to the lips ; but these are 
found in all degrees of modification and combination. The sound of the former 
R, when roughly executed, as we often hear it, is like the snarling of a cur : — 
the latter formation produces the effect of W, with generally an additional gut- 
tural modification. 

The uvidar vibration constitutes what is called burring, — a fault almost uni- 
versal in some of the northern divisions of England. Ask a person who burrs 
to open his mouth, and you will see the little uvula dancing and leaping in the 
channel of the tongue. To cure this fault, the first care must be to keep this 
restless little organ out of the way. There would be but little difficulty in get- 
ting sufficient vibration of the point of the tongue from a few very simple exer- 
cises ; but we should still have the guttural effect remaining. The Burrer should 
therefore exercise himself in separating the uvula and soft palate from the tongue 
as far as possible. After a little practice, he will generally be able to do this 
so effectually, that the uvula will shrink to a point, and the soft palate will form 



164 ARTICULATIONS— R. 

but one arch instead of two.* When he can retain the organs in this position 
at will, let him commence his practice to acquire the new articulation, by very 
slowly raising the point of the tongue during the prolonged utterance of the open 
vowels ah and aiv , till it comes upon the palate obstructively, and so forms the 
letter D. If the under jaw be kept down, it will be almost impossible to do 
this without sounding an R during the progress of the tongue to the palate. 
Then endeavour to stop the tongue at various intermediate elevations, continu- 
ing the voice at each, and keeping the teeth and lips perfectly motionless. When 
some power of action in the tongue has been thus acquired, strike it upwards 
quickly and repeatedly during the flow of voice ; and, probably, a very tolerable 
R will be at once produced. Further improvement will then be gained by the fol- 
lowing exercise. Sound Z with the thickness of an ivory paper-cutter between 
the teeth ; and, during the continuance of the sound, gradually open the teeth 
till they admit the breadth of the paper-cutter between them. The effort to con- 
tinue something like the buzzing sound of Z, while the teeth come apart, will 
draw the point of the tongue backwards and upwards almost to the position for 
R initial ; and the sound thus produced may therefore be used as initial R in 
practising words beginning with that letter. At first it may be necessary to 
give the subsequent vowel a separate commencement, by a momentary occlusion 
of the glottis after the R, — thus, r-each, r-ide, &c. to prevent the possibility 
of habit foisting in a little of the old guttural vibration between the new R and 
the vowel. Fluency of connexion will very soon be gained, and the roughest 
Burr may be, by these means, perfectly cured ! 

R is a harsh letter in the mouth of a Scotchman. It is one of the points by 
which a Northern utterance is most readily detected in England ; for few Scotch- 
men get over their vernacular habits in forming this letter. Yet, there is no rea- 
son why they should not. If the true formation of the English R be understood, 
and the difference between it and the Scottish R clearly apprehended, any one 
may soften a rough R almost at the first effort. There is not the slightest diffi- 
culty when the principle of formation is known. There is a difficulty, however, 
to unaccustomed organs, in producing a rolling or vibrated R. Many persons 
cannot, from want of lingual power, attain it. If the tongue is too much tied 
to the bed of the jaw, burring will arise from the effort to make the rough R ; 
and a labial modification of sound, something like w, will be produced by the 
attempt at the smoother sound. This latter peculiarity would almost seem to 
be cultivated among affected English speakers : — it is too common to be acci- 
dental. " The wuffness of the auwdinawy ahw" say these sonorous re- 
formers, " wendews its ewadication fwom wefined uttewance desiwable and 
weally necessawy." 

An easy method of developing vibratory power on the point of the tongue, is 
to repeat, with open mouth, and with the utmost softness and rapidity, articu- 
lations of the letter D. Thus, de-de-de-de-de-de-de-de-de-de-de, Sfc. ; or, 
dididididididididididididididididididididididididididididididididididid, Sfc. 

* See the Mouth. 



ARTICULATIONS— R. 1R5 

R is difficult — often peculiarly so — to the Stammerer. The breath pours out 
from the open and valveless channel with destructive impetuosity, and the 
waste of the material of speech induces a series of efforts in head, and chest, 
and limbs, to supply the place of the ungovernable agents of utterance. When 
the Stammerer has brought his valve — the glottis — under due control, he will 
have but little difficulty in restraining the pressure of the chest, and completely 
obviating all the distressing distortion of the impediment. He must carefully 
study the mechanism of the R, and enounce it, if necessary, separately at first, 
to break the association between it and the stammering paroxysm. A little 
practice will render this expedient unnecessary, and enable him to effect its 
combination with fluency. 

R final is, we have said, so purely vocal, that we do not reckon it an arti- 
culation. The student, desirous of acquiring the smooth pronunciation of this 
English element, should practise the lists of words terminating in R, (pages 107-8) 
giving to the R and re the vowel-sound of i in sir. Let him at first sit before 
a glass, and, while he sounds this vowel, observe his tongue rise very gently ; 
but not so much as to create a hissing of the breath, or vibration of the tongue. 
If ah be sounded for R-final, with an observed elevation of the point of the tongue, 
the English element will be very speedily perfected. Uneducated Cockneys 
sound ah, without this lingual elevation, — sah for sir, heah for here, Sfc. 

An English peculiarity, not confined to Cockneys, or to the uneducated, is 
the insertion of an R between vowels. Thus, when one word ends with a 
vowel, and the next begins with one, the tongue strikes glibly up on the palate, 
and gracelessly obviates hiatus, by interposing an r. " Is papa r at home ?" 
^ I saw r aunt.' 1 '' " What an idea r it is f" This obtrusion is only heard 
after the open vowels 6, 7, and 10 ; the formative apertures of which are but little 
different from the aperture of the English r(8). Thus we never hear " Go y 
away," a I seer it now," because the R in English is never sounded without 
its vowel effect in connexion with long close vowels. This is one of the most 
inveterate of all habits of speech. The only cure is to finish the first vowel by 
a smart momentary occlusion of the glottis ; and give the subsequent one thus a 
separate commencement. Children may easily be prevented from falling into 
this habit, and it is surely worth the little attention and care it requires. 

R and L are very liable to be confounded when they occur in proximate 
syllables. The vocal aperture for the former is over the point of the tongue, and 
for the latter over the sides at the back of the tongue ; and there is a difficulty 
in passing quickly from one to the other of these positions : thus in the sentence, 
" Little Richard ivrote a letter; yes, a letter little Richard wrote," — or in 
the quick reiteration of the Scotch nursery-rhyme, u Rob Low's him reeks," few 
persons will avoid some confusion of the R and L. A similar difficulty presents 
itself in such words as literally, literary, literarily, Sf-c. 

This is an organic difficulty, and on all such, highly useful exercises may be 
arranged. The following will be found extremely beneficial in giving power 
and precision of action to the tongue. 



166 ARTICULATIONS— R. 

Repeat the combinations frequently, and with verbal accentuations. 
rata, rele, rili, rolo, rooloo, 
lara, lere, liri, loro, looroo, 

ralalara, relelere, rililiri, rololoro, rooloolooroo, 
lararala, lerercle, liririli, lororolo, looroorooloo. 

R initial receives no articulation in combination with it in English. In 
French we find rw, as in roi, roideur, 8fc. 

R unites with the initial articulations P, B, F, Th, Sh, T, D, K, G, as in 
pretty, bride, freeze, three, shrink, try, dry, crime, grief. 

TT seems to have been at one time sounded before R ; it is still written, and 
in Scotland we frequently hear it pronounced by old people in such common 
words as wretch, wrong, write, ivright, Sf-c. It has been noticed that w is 
often sounded instead of R as an affectation. 



Exercises. 

Initial. — Reap, reef, wreath, wreak, ream, reave, rebus, wreathe, 
read, reel, rear, reason, regal, reach, regenerate, ripple, rift, 
rhythm, risk, rickets, writ, ribbons, rim, rivet, risen, riddance, 
rinse, rigour, rill, rich, ridge, ray, rapier, wraith, race, ratio, rake, 
rate, raiment, rave, raze, radiate, rain, rail, rage, reprimand, re- 
fluent, rest, reckless, retinue, rebel, (s.) remnant, reverie, reser- 
voir, red, render, regular, relegate, wretch, rap, raffle, rascal, 
rash, rack, rat, rabble, ramble, ravage, radical, ransom, rag, 
ratch, raillery, rasp, rather, ruption, ruffian, rustic, rush, ruck, rub, 
rumble, ruddy, run, rug, raw, wrought, wrath, rostrum, rock, 
rotten, robber, romp, rosin, rod, rondeau, roar, roe, rope, road, 
robe, roam, rover, rose, rote, roan, roll, rogue, roach, rue, rufous, 
ruth, rookery, route, rutilant, ruby, room, roost, ruse, rouge, rude, 
ruin, runic, rule, rye, ripe, rifle, rice, ride, rhyme, rive, writhe, 
rise, write, rowel, rout, rouse, round, royal. 

Between vowels. — Eyry, ear-ache, leering, peeress, mirror, 
miracle, spirit, lyric, Pyrrhic, herring, berry, burial, sterile, 
merit, airy, variable, garish, unwary, fairy, parish, arid, carriage, 
tarry, harrow, marrow, tarry, (ad.) starry, hurry, aurist, oracle, 
sorry, torrid, horrible, borrow, tomorrow, warrior, tory, soaring, 
borer, gory, poorer, curer, lurid, moorish, jury, alluring, irony, 
pirate, fiery, wiry, showery, cowering, towering, dowery. 



ARTICULATIONS-X. 167 



Observations. — This is the most clearly sonorous of all the articulations. 
It is formed by a uninterrupted current of pure voice, flowing over the sides of 
the back of the tongue — and little if it all affected by vibrations of the apertures 
through which it passes. The fore-part of the tongue is in contact with the rim 
of the palatal arch, and laterally with the teeth. This is the articulating position 
of L, and were there no subsequent action necessary to complete the element, 
L would be simply a vowel. But the oral aperture is changed by the removal 
of the fore-part of the tongue ; and this action constitutes the letter an articula- 
tion. The nasal elements, we have noticed, (page 179) have a similar vowel- 
vocality ; — with them as with L, it is the removal of the apposed organs which 
constitutes them Articulations. This accounts for the syllabic function which 
these letters perform in such words as saddle, sadden, &c, where I and n 
without any vowel sounded in connexion, form distinct syllables. 

The formation of L is very often faulty — sometimes from the apertures 
through which the voice flows, being contracted so as to cause a degree of vi- 
bration on the sides of the tongue ; sometimes from the breath not being per- 
fectly intercepted by the point of the tongue ; — sometimes from the tongue being 
too thickly pointed — and not sufficiently spread out in front — so that the breath 
escapes too far forward, and by too elongated openings ; — often from the 
tongue habitually taking the unfavourable position of turning its tip downwards 
to the bed of the jaw, — thus causing the rounded back of the tongue to rise into 
the palatal arch — and depriving the articulation of the clear, sharp, and per- 
cussive effect of the removal of the obstructing fore-part of the tongue ; — some- 
times from rounding the lips — either with or without the lingual action — so 
as to modify the voice almost into oo or W ; as " the wady is weh-oo," — (the 
lady is well :) and, in not a few cases, from making the articulative position 
perfectly obstructive, and passing the sound through the nose — with the effect 
of ng, or a modification of nasal quality, between that of ng and n. These and 
other minor diversities of mal-formation of this most mellifluous element, are 
remarkably common. A Scotch peculiarity, is the superaddition of a vowel 
sound, — nearly that of u(9) ; the I being thus made to sound almost like ul in 
ultimate. This is not when initial, but when a vowel precedes the I as in ale, 
sell, &c. pronounced a-ul, seh-ul, &c. When L should make a separate syllable, 
the same sort of sound is frequently heard. There is a greater tendency to this 
fault when L follows the close, than when it follows the open vowels. There 
is indeed an organic preference for the interposition of some open vowel between 
e(l) and I, arising from the difficulty of shifting the tongue rapidly from its 
lumpish position at ee to the very different sharp attitude of L ; as in feel, field, &c. 
The incombinable nature of these formations is seen also in the want of fluency 
in the combination Ly. When these occur in one syllable — the tongue would 
fain pass over the y and pronounce lure, and lute, simply loor, and loot; but 



168 ARTICULATIONS— L. 

polite usage forbids this, yet authorizes a compromise of the difficulty ; and, instead 

of requiring both articulations to have their full formation by the removal of 
the point of the tongue between them, allows the tip to remain on the palate, 
while the middle of the tongue rises a little : a softened effect of Y is thus pro- 
duced as the succeeding vowel opens from the described position. This half- 
formed Y is represented in some pronouncing dictionaries by an apostrophe : — 
thus, to represent the sound of the words lure and lute, the notation in Smart's 
excellent Dictionary, is Voor, Voot, &c. When the / and y are not in the same 
syllable — as in value, volume, &c. — both may be correctly articulated. 

To perfect the articulation of L, let the student adopt the various means of 
practice subjoined, and, whatever the nature of his mal-articulation, it will very 
speedily be removed. 

Adjust the mouth carefully to the position for L, — the tongue spread out, 
elevated to the edge of the palatal arch, and pressing firmly against it,— the 
lips drawn back and perfectly separated at the corners, so as to permit the 
sound to pass out uninfluenced by the lips. Let the arrangement of the 
tongue against the palate in front — (by no means touching the front teeth) — 
and laterally against the inside of the teeth, be perfectly obstructive. Produce 
as clear a vocal sound as possible, — its vowel quality will be something like 
the French u — and continue it for some time with the articulating organs per- 
fectly steady; then, by a rapid backward action of the whole tongue, modify the 
sound to that of the vowel aw. The under surface of the tongue should be 
kept in sight throughout. Repeat this with increasing rapidity, till the syllables 
produced are shortened to lollollolloll, &c. In the same way, proceed with the 
other vowels till the formation of L with the vowels is perfected. Then take 
the combinations, Im, In, Ir, Ig, lb, lv } Iz, Id, ly, and practise them with 
vowels before and after them, — at first prolonging the L for some seconds, to 
be assured of its correct formation and pure vocality, and gradually giving it. 
the natural duration. The tongue must not leave its position for L till the 
instant of the formation of the succeeding element. Many persons are unable 
to produce L in combination with M, as in elm, helm, &c, without interposing 
a vowel. There is no difficulty in the combination when the mechanism is 
clearly understood. After these letters, followed by vowels, can be fluently 
articulated, practise them without a final vowel, — thus : 

aim alv alb alz aJn aid alg, — with e, 1, o, u. 

L is so short before the breath articulations, that its prolongation, as in the 
previous exercise, would be unnatural and a useless means of practice. Let 
the student form L in the following combinations, by striking the tongue in- 
stantaneously to its position, — stopping the vowel and the sound of L together, 
but retaining the tongue silently for some seconds in its place, before pro- 
ceeding to the next articulation, — which must be formed without any interven- 
tion of sound or breathing, — thus : 

il p el p al p ul p ol p. 
al f al th al s al sh al t al k, — with S, i, o, ft. 



ARTICULATIONS— L; 169 

L final also should be separately practised. After the long vowels, let it be 
yuickly articulated, — eel, ail, arl, url, avl, oa ! , 65!, — and after the short vowels, 
let it be a little more prolonged — SI, ell, ill, oil, til. But in every instance it 
must be definitely finished by a smart recoil of the tongue from the palate. 

L, like the nasal liquid N, is a very difficult letter to the Stammerer. The 
exercises above prescribed will be found sufficient to perfect the articulation — 
when, by a preliminary course of practice, he has mastered the fundamental 
processes of speech. When he can govern the chest and glottis, and keep 
the tongue and jaw steady during the continuous flow of the vocality of I, he 
may safely proceed to these exercises ; but we must here again remark, that it 
will be hopeless to attempt to correct any individual fault, till the organs and 
processes employed by the defective element have been first brought under 
perfect control. 

The Stammerer will find it a useful exercise at first to give a distinct " coup 
de la glotte," (see page 15) to the commencement of the sound of I, and pro- 
nounce it as a distinct syllable, even when initial ; but he must gradually wear 
out of this : for the stress of every word should be on the vowel only. 

L, like N, is most difficult with the close lingual vowels, 1, 2, 3. Such 
words as little, lily, literal, &c. are severe stumbling-blocks : the little scope 
for action which the vowel allows, the abruptness of the vowel, and the subse- 
quent articulation requiring the same organs as the /, so disincline the tongue 
to exertion, that it remains glued to the palate ; while the glottis, uselessly out- 
pouring breath and broken murmurs, in vain endeavours to proceed without 
the tongue ; till the lungs are exhausted, and the effort of inspiration 
probably disengages the fettered organ. The Stammerer must proceed cautiously 
in his practice, and act on the preventive as much as he can ; for it is a work 
of almost unmanageable difficulty to break the connexion between the spasmodic 
actions of impediments when they once get a beginning. 

Repetitions of the same mode of action by different organs, or of different 
modes of action by the same organs, are difficult of articulation ; and form, 
therefore, excellent exercises. L, with R or N, presents difficulties of the latter 
class, which will be found under the letters R and N. 

L initial receives no articulation in combination with it. The softened effect 
of y, heard in lunacy, lute, lewd, fyc. has been already noticed. 

L unites with the initial articulations P, B, F, S, K, G, as in play, blame, 
flame, slave, class, glass. 

Exercises on L. 

Initial. — Lee, leaf, leave, lethal, lease, leash, leisure, lenient, 
league, leech, liege, lip, lift, lithic, listen, liquor, little, liberty, 
limb, live, lizard, lid, linnet, ligament, lily, lichen, lace, lake, late, 
label, lame, lave, lathe, lazar, leopard, left, lethargy, less, lecture, 

Y 



170 ARTICULATIONS— L. 

levity, leather, led, leg, lexicon, ledger, lassitude, lacquer, lattice, 
labefy, lamb, lavish, laniate, landlord, latch, lax, lath, last, lass, 
laths, laugh, launch, laundress, larceny, larmier, larva, lard, largo, 
larch, large, learn, learning, luff, lustre, lumber, love, lunch, 
longe, lull, lawful, laud, lawn, lop, lofty, loss, lottery, laurel, 
longitude, logarithm, loll, loricate, lodge, lord, lorn, lore, lo, 
loaf, loath, locust, lotion, loath, load lonely, logography, logician, 
loo, loop, loof, loose, look, looby, loom, lose, loon, lool, lie, lion, 
life, lively, like, light, library, lime, lithe, lies, line, ligure, lyre, 
lout, loud, lounge, lower, loyal, loiter, loin. 

L\ — lucid, lute, lewd, lunacy, lunatic, lunar, lune, lure, lurid, 
leucine, lubric, luce, lucifer, lucre, lucubrate, ludicrous, lukewarm, 
lumachel, luminous, lusory, lutist, luthern, 

Between vowels. — Feeling,mealy, pillow, silly, miller, sailor, tailor, 
railing, gaoler, teller, pellet, cellar, bellows, zealot, fallow, sallow, 
tallow, ballot, mallet, dally, rally, gallon, sully, gullet, mullet, 
appalling, tallish, drawling, galling, lawless, apology, dollar, folly, 
collar, hollow, jolly, polar, solar, bowling, molar, roller, lowland, 
holy, foolish, cooling, ruler, pulley, fuller, bullet, woollen, filing, 
silex, tiler, mileage, reviling, wily, beguiling, owlet, howling, 
oily, toilet, boiler. 

Before a breath articulation. — Scalp, whelp, help, pulp, culpable, 
culprit, palfrey, self, shelf, pilfer, sylph, dolphin, gulph, wolf, stealth, 
wealth, health, filth, also, false, pulse, dulcet, talc, calx, whilk, 
elk, silk, bilk, milk, bulk, mulct, hulk, altitude, spilt, filter, milter, 
wilt, guilty, lilt, jilt, pelt, belt, welt, welter, deltoid, knelt, paltry, 
falter, salt, vault, waltz, sultry, culture, multitude, vulture, belch, 
filch, milcb. 

Before a voice articulation. — Filbert, bulb, Talmud, palmated, 
psalmody, whelm, realm, helm, film, holm, fulminate, culminate, 
elves, salvo, alveary, valve, salvable, galvanism, selves, shelving, 
twelve, delve, silver, solve, evolve, resolve, pulverize, culverin, 
almost, almoner, alnage, always, railway, palsy, pails, feels, 
whiles, tholes, stools, squalls, ills, dells, holes, bales, oils, boils, 
scowls, bowls, balls, mules, veils, wales, wiles, walls, dolls, galls, 
lolls, lulls, reels, rolls, rules, rills, sealed, wild, wold, old, ruled, 
cooled, scald, bald, seldom, weld, guildry, wilderness, shoulder, 
hold, balderdash, mulled, world, pulled, failure, million, filial, 
steelyard, guillotine, stallion, collier, bullion, scullion, algor, algua- 
zil, Elgin, vulgar, amalgamate, palely, wheelless, sailless, solely, 



ARTICULATIONS— -T. 171 

coallike, coolly, molelike, vilely, fully, foully, ill-looking, soullike, 
railroad, wheelright, bulrush, algid, bilge, bulge, fulgent. 

L a Syllable. — Steeple, people, ripple, nipple, maple, staple, 
apple, couple, topple, sniffle, whiffle, shuffle, scuffle, ruffle, 
trifle, rifle, stifle, castle, pestle, wrestle, thistle, bristle, throstle, 
bustle, nestle, shackle, tackle, freckle, speckle, stickle, pickle, 
cockle, chuckle, huckle, battle, cattle^ nettle, kettle, tittle, little, 
pottle, bottle, scuttle, able, sable, table, feeble, bible, ruble, babble, 
rabble, nibble, dribble, cobble, hobble, stubble, bubble, evil, bevel, 
devil, hazel, easel, bamboozle, dazzle, embezzle, drizzle, grizzle, 
nosle, puzzle, muzzle, ladle, needle, beadle, sidle, bridle, saddle, 
peddle, middle, riddle, fiddle, toddle, puddle, eagle, ogle, bugle, 
haggle, angle, wrangle, higgle, wriggle, single, tingle, goggle, 
bungle. 

Note. — Always sound the vowel between n and I, as in tunnel, flannel, #r. 

L final. — Ell, peal, feel, wheel, ciel, heel, keel, reveal, weal, 
zeal, congeal, hill, ill, pill, fill, thrill, thill, sill, kiln, will, chill, 
ail, pale, fail, whale, sail, inhale* kail, tale, mail, avail, wail, they'll, 
flail, rail, ell, propel, fell, sell, shell, tell, rebel, (v.) mell, well 
knell, yell, shall, snarl, carl, marl, pearl, whirl, girl, cull, mull, 
dull, gull, lull, purl, furl, curl, hurl, churl, awl, appal, fall, thrall, 
instal, shawl, recal, tall, ball, maul, waul, drawl, gall, haul, extol, 
doll, loll, foal, poll, total, soul, shoal, coal, toll, troll, whole, boll, 
mole, dole, goal, roll, jole, pool, pull, fool, full, stool, cool, tool, 
bull, wool, yule, rule, isle, pile, file, while, style, chyle, tile, bile, 
mile, revile, wile, beguile, owl, foul, cowl, howl, growl, oil, spoil, 
foil, soil, coil, toil, boil. 



Observations. — Previous remarks (pages 40 — 42) will have sufficiently 
explained the nature of the Obstructive Formations, of which this is one. 
We may therefore confine our observations here to the mechanism and individual 
characteristics of the articulation T, referring to the above-noted pages for 
information regarding its principle of explosiveness. In forming T, the edge 
of the whole tongue is laid against the front and sides of the mouth, so as per- 
fectly to obstruct the breath. While the tongue is in this position, there must 
be a continued pressure of breath against it ; and whenever an aperture is made 
by the removal of any part of the obstructing edge, the confined breath will be 



172 ARTICULATIONS— T. 

emitted with ■ degree of explosiveness more or less strong, in proportion to the 
degree of its previous compression behind the tongue, and also in proportion to 
the abruptness with which the aperture is made. Among the numerous defects 
of speech which come under the notice of one extensively engaged in the work 
of correcting mal-articulations, the breath will be found to escape from the 
obstructive position T, through apertures of every possible variety, both of 
position, shape, and size. Sometimes from the very back part of the mouth, 
with a cluttering sound, it will issue through apertures over one or both sides of 
the tongue ; sometimes through lateral apertures at all anterior points ; and 
correctly, through one front central aperture, by the complete disengagement of 
the whole tongue from the palate. Another mode of emitting the compressed 
breath from the articulative position T, is by the nares or nostrils, — a faulty 
mechanism more common than perhaps most persons are aware of. The correct 
articulative action is, we have said, the removal of the whole tongue from the 
palate. Let the student practice this action by articulating the following- 
syllables in rapid reiteration till he can perfectly disengage the tongue in this 
way with considerable explosive force and abruptness : — 

ate, ete, ite, ote, oot : at, et, it, ot, ut. 
The syllables should be kept severally distinct, thus, — at, at, at, at, at, 
&c. ; and not atatatat, &c. Such must be the mechanism, in all cases, of T 
initial or final : but when the liquids I or n follow T in the same word, the 
lateral explosion before /, and the nasal before n, are not only admissible, 
but they are the regular and necessary formations of T in such cases. 
Thus in fitly and fitness, &c. ; battle, nettle, little, &c, and batten, bitten, 
button, &c, the point of the tongue is kept in contact with the front of the 
palate, | in forming the tl ; and the whole tongue is retained in its obstructive 
position during the utterance of the tn. The reason of this will be evident after 
a moment's reflection on the formative actions of I and n : it will be found to 
be impossible to articulate t independently of these actions, with sufficient fluency 
for consecutive syllables of one word. The same combinations, however, in 
proximate words, when the letters have not a syllabic relationship, must not be 
articulated thus by one action, unless in common colloquial phrases. Correct 
reading requires the final element of every word to be finished independently of 
the letter which may begin the next word. The student should therefore prac- 
tise the articulations 1 1 and t n in this separate way — till he can produce them 
lightly and clearly without coalescence. 

ate nay at nal ate lay at Ian — with e, i, o, u. 
T before P, K, B, G, — which otherwise completely obstruct the breath, — is liable 
to be reduced to the character of a mere stop without any audibility : and 
before m, which also occludes the mouth, it is liable to be nasally finished. To 
obviate these sources of indistinctness, let the following Table of these combin- 
ations be practised. 

ate pa ate ka ate ba ate ga ate ma f ^ . ^ u 
at pat atkat at bat at gat at mat \ ' '66. 



ARTICULATIONS— T. 173 

T is a very difficult articulation to the Stammerer. It has all the heaviness 
arising from the downward pressure of the chest — the strong conjunctive or 
upward bearing of the jaw — the muscular laxity of the mouth — the elements 
of impediment in the obstructive articulations generally ; in addition to which 
it has another source of difficulty in its own articulative action. Often the ex- 
plosion of the T will be distinctly heard, yet there the Stammerer sticks fast, 
unable to combine the next sound with the t. This sort of difficulty may be 
caused by want of glottal power ; but it will frequently be found to be merely 
articulative. Only the point of the tongue is disengaged — it is turned downwards 
so as to allow the breath to escape — but at all other points, the tongue remains 
in contact. The effect of throwing down the point of the tongue is to elevate 
the middle of it ; and the very worst position for speech is thus assumed. Let 
the Stammerer practise syllables and words ending with T, and observe, by 
looking in a glass, or placing his finger in the angle of the neck and chin (as 
directed at page 151), that the whole bulk of the tongue recedes in the mouth to 
finish this articulation. When this Jinal action is mastered, let him practise T 
initial; at first, if necessary, separating the T from the next element, by its own 
backward action, but restraining any unnecessary waste of breath ; (page 40) 
and by degrees he will be able to unite them with natural spontaneity. 

A not uncommon fault of articulation is the substitution of tl for cl, and dl for 
gl; as in clean, glean, &c, which are thus mispronounced tlean, dlean, &c. 
The difference in the effect of this unwarranted combination is so little, that it 
might readily escape observation, except from ears accustomed to vocal analysis. 
In the north and west of England this peculiarity is especially common. 

T initial combines in English with w, r, sh, and y, as in twine, true, chain, 
tune. S is the only articulation with which t unites, as in stay, stray, &c. 
Th is a common English digraph, but it represents a simple sound. 

The combination Tsh is of very frequent occurrence, though we in no 
instance write it. It is one of the simplest possible combinations ; for the T 
merely gives an obstructive commencement to the Sh. Tsh is the breath form of 
J=dzh ; and while the latter is reckoned an Alphabetic element, and represented 
by a single letter, the former — which is the very same articulation — is written, 
inconsistently enough, ch. 

Ts, which does not occur initial in English, but is common in the German 
and other languages, is another equally simple form of double articulation : 
from the position T, the tongue is advanced a little, and the breath exploded 
hissingly through the aperture of s ; as for tsh, the tongue is slightly retracted, 
so as to explode the breath through the aperture of sh. 

Ty is liable to be mispronounced Tsh, from the cause explained at page 184 ; 
but after a few of our lingual exercises have been mastered, the tongue should 
have acquired sufficient neatness and precision of action to contradistinguish 
these combinations without effort or ambiguity. 



1-4 ARTICULATIONS— T. 

Exercises. 

Initial. — Teethe, tease, tedious, teal, tear, teach, 'tis, tissue, 
titular, titillate, tint, tilt, phthisic, ticket, tingle, tinkle, tinge, 
taste, ta'en, tail, temporal, tempt, tetter, tessellated, tetrical, 
tent, telegraph, terrible, technical, tegument, techj, text, tap, 
tassel, tatter, tattle, tadpole, tangible, tantalize, talisman, 
Talmud, tariff, tactic, tag, tangle, tank, tax, task, tars, targe, 
tartan, tardy, tarn, target, terminate, terse, ternary, twopence, 
tuft, tother, 'tusk, tush, tut, tunnel, turpitude, turtle, turgid, 
turnkey, turkey, tuck, tug, tongue, touch, taught, tawdry, tawny, 
tall, talk, torch, torse, torsion, tortoise, top, tomahawk, toft, toss, 
totter, toddle, tonsile, tolerable, torrid, tocsin, tongs, tore, torn, 
toper, tome, toast, toes, total, towed, tone, toll, token, toga, 
tooth, toot, tool, tour, took, tithe, ties, tight, tidy, tine, tile, tire, 
tiger, town, towel, towers, toy, toise, toil, toilet. 

Tw. — Twang, twain, twattle, twaddle, tweak, tweedle, tweezers, 
twelve, twelfth, twenty, twig, twilight, twill, twin, twine, twinge, 
twinkle, twirl, twist, twit, twitch, twitter, twixt, twice. 

Tr. — Treason, treat, treacle, trip, tribune, trim, trivial, trist, 
trinity, trill, trick, trigger, trinket, tringle, tract, traipse, trace, 
trays, trade, train, trail, treble, tremble, trespass, tressel, tret, 
trench, trellis, treasure, treachery, trap, tramp, traffic, traverse, 
trash, traditive, transit, tragedy, track, tranquil, trance, trouble, 
trump, truss, trudge, trundle, truckle, trunk, troth, trot, trod, 
traulism, trollop, tropical, trope, trophy, trover, troll, trochee, 
troat, true, troop, truffle, truth, truce, truculent, tripod, tribe, 
trifle, trice, tries, trite, trident, trine, trigraph, trowel, trout, 
trowsers, troy. 

Tsh. — Cheap, chief, chieftain, cheese, cheat, cheer, cheek, 
chip, chimney, chivy, chisel, chit-chat, chid, chin, chilly, chicken, 
chink, chafe, chase, chaste, chain, cheverel, chess, chest, chair, 
cherry, cheque, chap, chaffinch, chastisement, chat, chariot, 
chaff, charm, charge, chart, chirp, churn, churl, chough, chuckle, 
chop, chalk, chose, choke, chew, choose, chime, chide, chine, 
chouse, choice. 

Ty. — Tew, tewel, tube, Tuesday, tuition, Teutonic, tulip, 
tumid, tumult, tune, tunic, tureen, tutor. 

Between vowels. — Veto, sheeting, eatable, metre, heater, iterate, 



ARTICULATIONS— T. 175 

pity, bittern, mitten, fitting, witty, whittle, citizen, titter, ditty, 
knitting, little, pretty, kitten, fritty, victuals, eighty, mated, fated, 
waiter, sated, dated, later, rating, gaiter, grater, hated, potatoe, 
petted, etiquette, better, fetter, setting, jetty, debtor, letting, netted, 
reticule, kettle, attic, pattern, battle, mattock, fatten, shatter, 
tatting, latter, clatter, hatter, chatty, utter, button, mutton, 
subtle, shuttle, jutting, stutter, nutting, clutter, gutter, daughter, 
naughty, haughty, haughtiness, pottage, bottle, motto, sottish, 
shotten, jotting, totter, knotted, lottery, rotten, cottage, grotto, 
gotten, Hottentot, otter, oaten, potable, boating, votary, dotage, 
notary, lotus, coating, gloating, booty, footing, suiter, imputed, 
beauty, sooty, shooting, duty, tutor, neuter, lutist, rooted, cuticle, 
hooting, plighted, biter, mighty, fighting, cited, indicted, benighted, 
lighter, writer, flighty, frighten, triton, outer, shouter, shouting, 
undoubted, routed, moiety, loiter. 

Before an articulation. — Sweetmeat, vitriol, vitreous, gateway, 
pastry, etching, Etna, wetnurse, settler, detriment, retrograde, 
platform, catcall, thatching, fastness, vastly, pasture, disastrous, 
lastly, ghastly, artful, artless, partner, partly, partridge, parch- 
ment, martlet, marching, tartlet, carthorse, pertly, virtue, 
utmost, butler, suttler, curtly, cutler, culture, vulture, paltry, 
watchman, botcher, motley, courtly, sportsman, boatman, note- 
book, boathooks, nightcap, sprightly, nightly, rightly, outmost, 
outward, voucher, outrage, adroitly. 

Final. — Peat, beet, meat, complete, feet, seat, sheet, neat, 
leet, greet, heat, priest, yeast, list, wrist, pit, bit, emit, fit, whit, 
wit, knit, lit, it, kit, grit, hit, eight, pate, bait, mate, fate, wait, 
innate, elate, crate, great, hate, pet, bet, met, whet, wet, fret, 
jet, debt, quartett, net, let, regret, yet, pat, bat, mat, fat, vat, 
that, sat, gnat, rat, cat, hat, hast, chat, past, mast, fast, vast, 
last, art, start, tart, dart, cart, heart, chart, squirt, flirt, avert, 
shirt, dirt, skirt, but, put, shut, jut, nut, hut, hurt, ought, bought, 
thought, sought, taught, nought, wrought, caught, wart, sort, 
distort, short, tort, snort, pot, what, sot, shot, jot, tot, dot, not, 
lot, rot, cot, yacht, got, grot, hot, sport, port, court, oat, boat, 
moat, note, coat, goat, put, boot, moot, foot, soot, shoot, newt, 
impute, mute, suit, lute, root, cute, coot, hoot, argute, spite, bite, 
mite, fight, white, wright, site, tight, indite, night, light, write, 
kite, height, pout, spout, bout, devout, stout, shout, doubt, lout, 
rout, clout, gout, out. 



17(J ARTICULATIONS-D. 



D. 



Observations. — This articulation bears the same relation to the preceding, 
that B does to P, V to F, Z to S, &c. Its articulative position and action are the 
same as those of T ; but while the tongue is in contact with the palate, the voice 
is exerted, and is heard with a muffled murmur — the breath which produces the 
glottal vibration, dilating the pharynx. Distinctness very much depends on the 
audibility of this sound. The student should therefore practise this and the other 
vocal obstructives, till he can give their vocality as much duration as it is cap- 
able of, (see page 137.) Our remarks on the formation of T apply equally to 
this element, which is liable to the same faults of articulation, defects, &c. The 
exercises given for t may therefore be practised with D substituted, (to give 
distinctness to its combinations ;) thus — 

ade nay, ad nad ; ade pay, ad pad ; &c. 

The Stammerer must study the general mechanism of the vocal obstructives, 
(page 43), and acquire power over their formation, by prolongation of the 
pharyngeal murmur — and strong, yet not wasteful explosions, before he sets to 
work to battle with his difficulties on this articulation. He must be able to 
retain the articulative position steadily — to perform the articulative action 
rapidly and independently of all other positions and actions — and, lastly, to pass 
trippingly from one position to another, without attempts at impractible coal- 
escence, and without losing any one of the peculiar effects of each articulation. 
His cure, thus founded on power over the organs and operations of speech, will 
progressively advance with rapidity, in proportion to his energy and watchful- 
ness. Having gone through this training, the Stammerer will not only feel 
himself relieved from the oppressive incubus which tormented his whole "dream 
of life," but he may rejoice in a freer possession, and more conscious enjoyment 
of the crowning faculty of man, than the best of merely instinctive speakers 
who never felt the sore deprivation, and who know not the value to their social 
happiness of that power of speech which they ignorantly exercise. 

D initial, like T, unites with W, R, and Y ; and with the vocal form of 
Sh — as in dwarf, drew, due, and Jew. It combines with no initial articu- 
lation : Ave write Bd in bdellium, but the B is silent. Dy is apt to be con- 
founded with Dzh, as Ty is slurred into Tsh, by careless tongues. 

The combination dzh=J is one of the simplest forms of double articulation — 
in this respect analogous to the French Bw and Pw, and the German Ts or 
Dz. The same articulating agents are used for both elements of the combin- 
ations : the continuous elements being merely explosively commenced by the 
momentary oral occlusion of the obstructive element. This obvious simplicity 
of the combination dzh may be the reason why it is denoted by a single charac- 
ter in our language. 

Exercises. 
Initial. — Deep, deem, deify, devious, deed, deal, dear, dip, 
dibble, diffluent, dividend, dithyramb, dissipate, distance, dismal, 



ARTICULATIONS— D. 177 

ditto, did, dinner, diligence, dig, ditch, day, dace, daisy, date, 
deign, dale, deprecate, debit, deference, death, desk, desuetude, 
desert, debt, dead, dense, denizen, dell, deck, dapper, dabble, 
damp, damask, daffodil, daggle, dash, dandle, dangle, dance, 
dapatical, da-capo, darken, darn, darling, dart, dearth, dirt, dirk, 
double, dumb, dove, doth, dust, dusk, dozen, Dutch, dudgeon, 
dungeon, dulcimer, ductile, daub, dauphin, dodge, dot, daughter, 
dodder, dawn, donative, doll, dock, dog, donkey, dormant, dorsal, 
door, dome, donor, doleful, douceur, doom, doodle, divers, dice, 
dies, dive, diagram, dike, doubt, dowdy, doughty, down, dowlas, 
dowager, doit, doily. 

Dr. — Drab, drachma, dram, drama, draff, draft, drag, dragon, 
dragoon, drain, drake, dramatic, drapery, drastic, draw, draught, 
drawl, dread, drear, dream, dredge, dregs, drench, dress, drift, 
drill, drink, drank, drunkard, drip, dribble, drivel, drizzle, drive, 
droll, dromedary, drove, droop, dropsy, dross, drover, drown, 
drowsy, drub, drudge, drug, druggist, drum, druid, drumble, dry, 
drily, drought, dryad. 

By. — Dew, dual, duel, dubious, duty, duke, Dulia, duly, duo, 
dupe, duplicate, dure. 

Dw. — Dwale, dwarf, dwell, dwelt, dwindle. 

Dzh=J. — gelid, genuine, gender, genial, genus, genius, gentile, 
gentle, geranium, German, gerund, gesture, gibbet, gibe, gigantic, 
gilly-flower, ginger, ginseng, girasole, gyve, jabber, jacent, jackal, 
jag,gaol, jangle, janitor, January, jargon, jaundice, jaunt, jaw, jeal- 
ous, jeer, jejune, jeopardy, jerk, jerkin, Jersey, jessamine, Jesuit, 
jetsam, Jewry, jewel, jib, jig, jilt, jingle, job, jockey, jocund, jog, 
joint, joist, joke, jole, jolt, jostle, journal, jovial, joy, jubilant, 
Judaism, judge, juggle, jugular, juice, jumble, junction, jingle, 
junior, juniper, juratory, justice. 

Between Vowels. — Eden, weedy, seedy, kneaded, leader, reader, 
bidden, middle, fiddle, avidity, widow, diddle, nidification, callidity, 
riddance, giddy, idiot, aid-de-camp, fading, shady, jaded, lady, 
ladle, radiant, cadi, eddy, peddle, wedding, steady, ready, dreaded, 
paddock, bladder, madder, sadden, saddle, caddy, gladiator, had- 
dock, puddle, muddy, sudden, shudder, ruddy, huddle, boddice, 
model, fodder, wadding, sodden, toddle, daudle, noddy, laudatory, 
gaudy, odour, modish, boding, wooded, pudding, brooding, moody, 
woody, sudatory, doodle, noodle, rudiment, hooded, bridle, widen, 

Z 



178 ARTICULATIONS-N. 

sidle, cider, tidy, rider, guidance, chiding, idle, powder, dowdy, 
cloudy, crowded, embroider, voidance. 

Before an Articulation. — Seedling, needless, heedless, midnight, 
fiddler, pedlar, bedlam, medley, sedge, bridge, widgeon, ledger, 
ridge, page, wager, sagely, rage, deadlight, hedger, padlock, badge, 
badness, madly, fadge, sadness, cadger, graduate, arduous, barge- 
man, largess, margin, guardroom, commandment, worldly, word- 
less, curdling, maudlin, urge, fondness, wondrous, tawdry, lordly, 
codling, cordwainer, gorgeous, wardrobe, bodement, loadstone, 
roadster, lewdness, gamboge, bridesmaid, bridegroom, sidling, 
guideless, proudly, loudness, voidness. 

Final. — Bead, meed, feed, weed, seed, indeed, keyed, lid, rid, 
kid, hid, chid, obeyed, fade, inveighed, weighed, arcade, said, 
instead, shed, dead, clad, glad, had, pard, bard, retard, card, 
guard, bird, whirred, whirled, third, stirred, gird, world, absurd, 
occurred, bud, fund, bestud, annulled, culled, gulled, odd, awed, 
pod, pawed, sod, sawed, yond, yawned, cod, cawed, called, galled, 
poured, board, ignored, implored, sword, abode, mode, flowed, 
woad, wold, sewed, sold, code, goad, hoed, hold, food, mewed, feud, 
viewed, wooed, wood, prude, brood, could, good, endured, lured, 
cured, I'd, bide, confide, vied, wide, tied, died, denied, bride, 
pride, complied, mind, mild, hide, hind, filed, find, defiled, bowed, 
bound, wound, scowled, crowd, cloud, allowed, employed, void, 
soiled, toiled, alloyed, cloyed. 



N. 

Observations. — The difference between this articulation and the preceding 
(D) is precisely the same as that between B and M, explained at page 138. 
While the organs are placed in the orally obstructive position, the soft palate is 
removed from the nasal openings, and the current of voice which would else 
dilate the pharynx, flows continuously through the nose. If these passages are 
not immediately opened, or if the breath is altogether intercepted for an instant, 
it will pass into the pharynx, and the effect of dn, as in midnight, will be pro- 
duced. D and N being the same lingual articulation, the tongue must make 
two strokes on the same part of the palate in order to articulate them separately ; 
and when d comes before n in the same word, such separate articulation would 
create a hiatus incompatible with the closeness of syllabic connexion. D and T, 
therefore, before N in the same word, merely give an explosive commencement 
to the N. Many persons habitually give the nasals M and N, this initial ob- 



ARTICULATIONS— N. 1 79 

struction ; and the converse fault, namely, that of commencing the explosives 
nasally, is equally, if not more common. The three nasals are also very often 
faultily finished explosively, from a momentary occlusion of the nares before 
the articulative action is finished. We have noticed the peculiar liability of NG 
to be thus terminated by G. (See page 47). The voice, in forming N, must 
be pure and unmixed with aspiration. The least contraction of the nostrils, or 
their partial obstruction from any cause, will create sniffling. If the nostrils are 
pinched while forming N, the explosive effect of D with a nasal resonance will 
be produced. This sort of sound is caused by cold in the head, — when the 
voice enters the nostrils, but meeting with obstructions to its egress, the breath 
collects in the pharynx, and the removal of the tongue from the palate is at- 
tended by a degree of the explosiveness of D. If the nostrils are altogether 
clogged up, it will be impossible to avoid this ambiguous effect, but a pure for- 
mation of voice, and an effort of expansion in the nasal passages, will, in a great 
measure, obviate the sniffling which so commonly results from this troublesome 
cause. Many persons habitually form the nasals with much of the character 
of these cold-obstructed sounds. This peculiarity impresses the utterance very 
strongly ; it is altogether incompatible with effective speaking. It may arise 
from some organic defect, — from polypi, — from excessive snuff-taking, — or from 
habit growing out of frequent liability to colds. Except where it originates in 
structural affections, it may be entirely removed by careful practice of the im- 
perfect elements. 

N is almost invariably a source of great difficulty to the Stammerer. He 
will generally have perfected the explosives, and nearly all the other articula- 
tions, before he can master this letter, and perhaps L. The impediment on N 
may be of a fourfold nature, — combining the difficulties which arise from mis- 
management of the chest and organs of respiration, — of the glottis and sonorous 
agents, — of the tongue and articulative organs, — and of the lower jaw. Without 
further indicating the nature of the difficulties this element may present, we 
may at once prescribe a means of practice for the acquirement of its true 
formation, independently of all previously existing faults. Let the Stammerer 
exercise himself with persevering hopeful energy in the way we recommend, 
above all, endeavouring to understand the principles on which he is working, 
and he will not be long in attaining command over all the processes at faidt in 
his impeded utterance of N. 

Let him, with a glass before him, open his mouth as widely as he can, and 
retain it at its greatest opening, while he places the tongue on the palate, as 
for D. Here let it rest steadily for some time : — it is in the position for either 
T, D, or N. Let him now produce a continuous sound, without the slightest 
motion in any visible part of the mouth. This sound — if the tongue has been 
obstructively placed on the palate — must necessarily pass through the nose. 
While the organs remain in the position assumed, this sound is a nasal vowel ; 
it is as clearly a vowel as e, o, or any of the recognised oral qualities of vowel 
sound. The Stammerer will by this exercise at once effectively counteract the 
disturbing tendencies of the tongue and jaw ; and by strengthening and purify- 



180 ARTICULATIONS— N, 

ing the voice, he will gain glottal power ; while, by giving the well formed sound 
as long continuance as possible, with the chest elevated, he will check the 
heavy pressure on the lungs, and acquire ease, steadiness, and power of re- 
spiration. 

The voice may also be exercised in the production of short and quickly uttered 
explosive jets of N-sound — as well as of the continuous stream — but, through- 
out, keeping the tongue, lips, and teeth perfectly motionless. 

These exercises will perfect the articulative position of N. Let the Stammerer, 
when these have been sufficiently practised, add to them the action which 
completes the articulation, — by rapidly removing the tongue from all points of 
upward contact. If the current, of voice be continued, the removal of the tongue 
will admit the breath into the mouth, and some vowel will be produced. Those 
vowels which are formed with the tongue backwards, present less difficulty 
with N and the other lingua-palatal articulations, than the vowels which 
require the approximation of the tongue to the palate, — on account of the greater 
scope which they afford to the articulative action. Thus no, (g)naw, &c. are 
much more easily uttered than (k)nee, (k)nit, nay, &c. Let the Stammerer 
therefore in adding the vowels to N, begin with the least difficult, — reiterating 
each syllable frequently without any break in the continuous flow of glottal 
sound. Thus 

noo, noo, noo, &c. ; no, no, no, &c. ; uaw, naw, naw, &c. ; 

nah, nah, nah, &c. ; nay, nay, nay, &c. ; ne, ne, ne, &c. 
nonononon, &c. ; nunununun, &c. ; nanananan, &c. 
nenenenen, &c. ; ninininin, &c. 

At this stage he must carefully watch that no unnecessary action — especially 
of the jaw— accompany that of the tongue. The teeth should remain as steady 
as if the jaw were hingeless, till the tongue can perform its office independently, 
and with satisfactory rapidity and energy. This exercise should be followed 
up by reading words with N initial ; and then by practising the combinations 
in which N occurs, or any exercises containing the elements which present a 
difficulty. 

N, like the other liquids, (see page 139) presents several marked varieties of 
quantity. It is extremely short when followed by a breath articulation, as in 
paint — longer when before a vocal articulation, as in pained — and longest 
when final or before another liquid, as in pain and painless. 

N initial combines only with Y. N unites with no initial articulation but S, 
as in snow. It occurs, however, before nearly all articulations in separate 
syllables ; as in raiw&ow, en;oy, endure, unfold, im/ratitude, enhance, inquire, 
enclose, unkennel, inlet, inmost, unknown, unpardoned inroad, insult, intact, 
invalid, unwise, inure, frenzy, enshrine, pander, meanwhile. N is found also 
in the following final combinations : — with d as in bend, dzh as in hinge, s as in 
hence, t as in bent, z as in lens, tsh as in bench, th as in plinth. The nasal 
articulations are very liable to be exchanged in some combinations, so as organ- 
ically to correspond to, and fluently combine with, the articulations with which they 



ARTICULATIONS— N. 181 

stand connected. Thus n before a labial articulation in the same syllable, will 
be changed to m ; and before k or g into ng, — as in Banff, pronounced Bamff, 
ink, bank, &c. pronounced ingk, bangk, &c. A similar tendency is manifested 
in the vulgar pronunciation of such words as length, strength, &c, where the 
ng before the lingua-dental articulation th is changed into n. This, however, 
is to be avoided — because not sanctioned by the best usage. 

Combinations of N and L present an articulativc difficulty ; in overcoming 
which, considerable lingual power must be acquired. The following arrange- 
ments should be practised in rapid iterations. Pronounce each group of syl- 
lables with the accent of a word. (See page of accents). 

na la la na na la na la na la na la la na la na na la — with e, i, o, oo. 

The other lingual continuous formations may be added. Thus: 

la na ra za tha la ra tha za na ) ml « ' • - ~~ 
x , , , ., >- with e, 1, o, oo, 

tha ra na la za za la tha na ra ) ' ' ' ' 

The following will be found extremely difficult. 

nin lil nin'.lil nin nin lil lil nin j nillin-rinnil 

lil nin lil nin lil lil nin nin lil rinnil-nillin 

Exercises. 

Initial. — Knee, neap, neither, niece, knees, neat, knead, kneel, 
near, nip, nibble, nimble, niveous, knit, ninny, niggard, niche, nay, 
nape, neighbour, name, knave, nasal, nature, nadir, nail, nepotism, 
nebula, nemorous, nephew, nether, nest, net, knell, neck, negli- 
gent, nap, navigate, nascent, nathless, gnash, gnat, narrow, knack, 
nag, natch, nasty, nard, narcotic, nerve, number, nothing, nuzzle, 
nudge, nut, none, null, nurse, nurture, gnaw, nausea, nautical, 
naufrage, naumachy, normal, north, knob, nominate, novice, 
nostril, nosle, knotty, nodule, nonage, nor, noxious, notch, know- 
ledge, no, noble, gnomon, note, node, nones, knoll, noon, nook, 
noodle, noose, nigh, knife, knives, nice, knight, nidor, nine, nigrin, 
nous, noun, noy, noyance. 

Ny. — New, newspaper, newt, neuter, neurology, nubile, nucleus, 
nudity, nugatory, nuisance, numerate, numismatic, nutation, nu- 
triment, nubilous. 

Between Vowels. — Venial, arena, penal, verbena, pinnace, mi- 
nister, finical, dinner, linnet, guinea, feigning, lanated, zany, rain- 
ing, energy, penny, benison, menace, fennel, venerable, senator, 
zenith, tenor, denizen, lenity, rennet, kennel, annals, pannel, 
banish, manacle, flannel, vanity, sanative, janitor, tanner, inani- 
mate, laniate, canister, hanaper, channel, panado, punning, money, 
funnel, sunny, runnel, cunning, gunner, honey, brawny, fawning, 



182 ARTICULATIONS— N. 

tawny, dawning, bonnet, monastery, sonnet, astonish, donative, 
nonage, chronicle, honour, honest, owner, ponent, donor, moonish, 
sooner, tuner, lunar, lunatic, pining, briny, miner, refiner, shining, 
china, clownish, crowning, poignant, joinery, coinage. 

Before a Breath Articulation. — Plinth, terebinth, anthelmin- 
tic, synthesis, Corinthian, tenth, panther, cantharides, canthus, 
month ; expanse, manse, advance, stance, chance, dance, lance, 
rancid, handsome, pensive, commence, fence, whence, thence, 
tense, dense, against, hence, prince, mince, evince, wince, since, 
linseed, rinse, responsive, monstrous, sconce, once, dunce, runci- 
nate ; bunting, affront, wont, stunted, frontispiece, vaunt, want, 
print, mint, flint, wintry, stinted, tint, dint, lint, hint, chintz, 
penthouse, bent, meant, eventful, went, scent, gentleman, tent, 
lent, rent, pantry, banter, mantelpiece, phantasm, grant, slant, 
saunter, sha'nt, chant, jaunt, taunt, daunt, can't, gaunt, haunt, 
learnt, painting, feint, attainted, mayn't, won't, pint, mounting, 
fountain, counted, accountant, pointer, jointed, anointed ; mansion, 
expansion, pension, mention, ascension, gentian, tension, dimen- 
sion, essential, licentious, apprehension, prevention, provincial, 
conscience, conscious ; pinch, bench, tench, wrench, stanchion, 
branch, staunch, launch, craunch, haunch, paunch, punch, bunch, 
lunchion, hunch, munch. 

Before a Voice Articulation. — Inborn, unbosom, anvil, envious, 
invious, invoice, convict, unwell, ennui, pansy, stanza, Wednesday, 
frenzy, kinsman, bronze, dens, fins, cranes, guns, bones, pans, 
means, lines, tunes, crowns, coins, dingy, fringe, avenger, vengeance, 
injury, spongy, range, lounge, feigned, gleaned, mined, bind, 
crowned, coined, owned, surround, tuned, andiron, endless, endive, 
index, indigo, indolent, indurate, undulate, under, pander, bandy, 
manducate, jaundice, dandy, landscape, glandular, candent, 
pendulum, fender, vendible, send, tendon, rhododendron, spindle, 
brinded, vindicate, window, thinned, rescind, tinder, kindled, 
hindrance. 

N a syllable. — Happen, stiffen, even, heathen, leaven, seven, 
often, hasten, fasten, listen, patten, mitten, mutton, button, 
written, cotton, lighten, oaten, madden, bidden, ridden, sodden, 
denizen, venison, benison, dozen, prison, mizen, risen, cozen, 
fatten, kitten, bitten, rotten, glutton, frighten, tighten, lighten, 
heighten, hidden, ridden, trodden, hoiden. 

N final. — Demesne, intervene, ravine, ween, scene, sheen, 



ARTICULATIONS— Sh. 183 

nineteen, terrene, serene ; pin, bin, ermine, levin, fin, whin, win, 
thin, amaranthine, ursine, mountain, murine, akin, begin, chin ; 
pain, bane, fain, vane, ta'en, deign, ascertain, mundane, arraign, 
murrain, when, wen, then, ten, den, again ; pan, ban, fan, van, 
than, sedan, began ; barn, tarn, darn ; fern, cavern, concern, 
learn, stern, yearn ; pun, bun, fun, one, sun, shun, horizon, tun, 
dun, none, run, spurn, burn, adjourn, turn ; aufa, pawn, brawn, 
fawn, sawn, dawn, lawn, born, morn, thorn, adorn, forlorn, corn, 
horn, upon, wan, shone, John, don, yon, gone ; borne, mourn, 
worn, torn, shorn ; own, depone, sown, shown, alone ; spoon, boon, 
moon, swoon, soon June, tune, noon, rackoon ; pine, woodbine, 
repine, mine, nine, divine, wine, thine, sign, resign, shine, tine, 
dine, kine, chine ; town, down, noun, crown, clown, gown ; loin, 
coin, groin. 



Sh. 

This element is heard when the point of the tongue, from its forward position 
at S, is drawn inwards, so as slightly to enlarge the aperture through which 
the breath hisses. The shape, too, of the passage, is altered by the middle of 
the tongue rising within the arch of the palate. The general appearance of the 
tongue is more thick and bulky than for S. This cannot be observed during 
the articulation of the elements, for the teeth are not sufficiently apart, but if 
the mouth be opened after S and Sh, without moving the tongue from the 
articulative positions, the difference in the elevation and apparent bulk of the 
tongue will be evident. The observation in this way of the position of the 
tongue is of much use in facilitating the correction of faults in articulation. 
We have said that the point of the tongue is drawn inwards from its position at 
S — but the kind of sound heard in Sh may be produced with the point of the 
tongue merely depressed, or even advanced to the lower teeth. The breath is 
then modified by the approximation of the middle of the tongue to the interior 
of the front rim of the palatal arch ; but this formation is a faulty one, because 
it does not easily combine with other lingual articulations. The tongue, 
from its conformation, cannot pass with facility from one to another of its 
positions, unless it is kept free from contact with the bed of the jaw. Let the 
student place the tongue in the position for S, and then, while the current of 
breath flows uninterrupted, let him gradually draw back the tongue — keeping 
the point at a uniform elevation — and he will modify the hiss into Sh. Let 
him practise this action till he can pass from S to Sh, thence to S, then back 
again to Sh, and so on alternately, repeatedly during one continued expiration. 

The formation of Sh is very generally faulty from an unnecessary accompa- 
nying projection of the lips. The action of the tongue is not sufficiently firm 



184 ARTICULATIONS— Sh. 

and decided to give a distinctive character to the hiss, and the clumsy expedient 
of funnelling the lips is resorted to. The exercise on S and Sh above prescribed 
will be useful in manifesting both the existence and the dispensability of this 
labial action. 

The sound of this element is seldom represented by sh, except when initial or 
final. Wherever the articulations s and y come together, as in words beginning 
with s, followed by alphabetic u, there is a natural tendency in the organs to 
strike sh instead of the sy. S is produced with the tongue comparatively flat 
and pointed : Y is formed with the middle of the tongue raised in close ap- 
proximation to the roof of the palatal arch : and the position of sh being exactly 
intermediate, — the tongue somewhat retracted, and its bulk somewhat elevated, 
— we see in the mechanism of the elements the reason why sh will very naturally 
take the place of sy in rapid utterance. This tendency is yielded to in some 
instances, but opposed by correct usage in others. In sure, assure, insure, 
fissure, tissue, &c, universal custom has authorised the exchange of sy for sh ; 
but in suit, sue, superior, &c, it imperatively forbids it. In these, and all 
words containing this combination, we see the natural tendency strongly illus- 
trated in the pronunciation of the uneducated. 

A tailor was threat'ning a debtor to shoe (sue), 

Says he, needy witling, " Kind sir, at your pleasure ; — 

But I'll thank you as much, and 'twere easier for you 

Just to shoot (suit) me, — and now I can stand for my measure." 

The pronunciation of the word sewer (a drain) illustrates the working of this 
principle, and also of one noticed at page 119, with reference to the vowel oo 
before r(8). The necessities of fluent speaking have demanded the curtailment of 
this word as one not worthy of the more emphatic and deliberate pronunciation 
of the double articulations ; and the identity of its sound, so shortened, with 
another word, (sure) has rendered a wweZ-change necessary to contradistinguish 
them. This has been done by the substitution of o(ll) for oo; and the current 
pronunciation of the word (shore) is thus very naturally obtained. This tendency 
of anterior lingual articulations to take sh rather than the more difficiflt y into 
combination with them, is further manifested in words containing y after t, as 
in tune, tutor, fyc. where vulgar pronunciation converts the y into sh. In 
unaccented syllables, this change is made by more than the vulgar, as in nature, 
feature, SfC which are too often colloquially pronounced na-tshoor, fea-tslwor, 
fyc. ; but careful speakers should articulate ty in all such cases. 

The vowel e, after s and before a vowel, is subject to be thus sunk into Sh in 
unaccented syllables, as in osseous, &c. but it is one mark of good speaking to 
be able to sound the vowel distinctly, and without loss of fluency in such words. 
In the terminational syllables sion, tion, cial, tial, cious, fyc. English 
usage has fixed the sound of si, ci, ti, to sh. In French these syllables are 
pronounced se-on, &c. 

In some words in which se or sy have become slurred into sh, the ear does 
not seem satisfied to lose all trace of the elided sound, and a soft effect of y is 
heard, as in specie, tertian, Sec 



ARTICULATIONS— Sh. 185 

Shy is a very unfluent combination : in these cases, sh has that degree of 
prolongation wliich it receives before another articulation ; and the tongue, before 
leaving the palate for the succeeding vowel, makes a slight backward and up- 
ward movement, wliich produces a shadowy effect of y. 

The student will find a useful exercise on the hissing articulations, th, s, 
ands7j, by producing them in series repeatedly during the flow of one expiration, 
without any intervening vowel-sound. Thus : begin with th, and change that by 
a rapid motion of the tip of the tongue to s ; then, by a farther retraction equally 
rapid, produce sh ; then back to s and th, and thence again to s and sh ; thus, 
th-s-sh-s-th-s-sh-s-th-s-sh-s-th, &c. 

Syllables with these elements alternately initial form an excellent lingual ex- 
ercise. They present comparatively little difficulty when arranged in the order 
of their formation ; th, «, sh; or sh, s, th; but when the anterior and posterior 
formations come together, as in the following arrangement, they present a stum- 
bling-block, which probably the best articulator will not get over without practice, 
tha sha sa, sha tha sa, sa sha tha, sa tha sha, &c. — with e, i, 0, 00. 

Let the three syllables, with varying accents, be pronounced as one word, and 
reiterated as rapidly as can be done with distinctness. Then let two of the com- 
binations be united verbally, and read with varying accents ; thus, — - 

tha sha sa sha tha sa, &c. ; sa sha tha sa tha sha, &c. — with e, i, 0, 00. 
To the Stammerer who has sufficiently mastered the fundamental principles on 
which his cure must be based, these perplexing combinations will be of much 
service in developing power and precision of lingual action. 

Sh initial combines only with R in English, as in shrew, shrine, Sfc. This 
combination is harsh, and somewhat difficult ; and it tends to make our speakers 
use the lips to assist them in effecting it more easily. Labial interference should, 
however, — for it may, — be dispensed with. 

Exercises. 

Initial. — Sheep, sheaf, sheave, sheath, sheather, sheet, sheen, 
sheer; ship, shibboleth, shift, shiver, shin, shingle; shape, shame, 
shave, share, shake; shepherd, shed, shell, shelf, sherry, shekel; 
shabby, sham, shadow, shall, shackle, shag ; shaft ; sharp, 
shard, shark ; sherbet, shirt, shirk ; shove, shovel, shuffle, 
shutter, shudder, shun ; shawm, shawl, shorl, short, shop, shot, 
shod, shone, shock, shog ; shore, shorn ; show, shoulder, shoal ; 
shoe, shoot, should, sure, shook ; shy, shine; shower: chaise, chag- 
rin, champaign, chandelier, charade, charlatan, chevalier, chivalry, 
chevisance, chevron, chicanery. 

Between vowels. — fisher, wishing, dishes, meshes, ashes, bishop, 
blushing, bushel, cushion, cushat, dashing, echelon, fashion, 

A a 



18G ARTICULATIONS— Zh. 

fishify, fleshiness, freshet, motion, mission, caution, nation, passion, 
ocean, pension, possession, position, potion, precious, satiate, sus- 
picion, suspension, trashy, usher, vitiate, vicious, washing, ration, 
ambition, oppression, pressure, fissure, issue, patient, potential, 
precocious, special, social. 

Before an articulation. — Fishmonger, wishful, dish-cloth, ash- 
lar, bashful, blushful, fleshly, freshness, hush-money, Mishna, 
mushroom. 

Before a softened sound of Y. — Asian, Ascii, Antiscii, cassia, 
caseous, facial, Grecian, justiciary, nescience, Periscii, Russian, 
specie, species, tertian. 

Final. — Leash ; fish, wish, dish, whitish, blackish, radish, 
reddish ; flesh, fresh, mesh ; sash, dash, lash, gnash, rash, crash, 
clash, gash, trash, hash ; marsh, harsh ; rush, crush, gush, hush, 
blush, thrush, plush, tush ; quash, wash; push, bush : (Tsh) each, 
beech, beseech, itch, witch, ditch, etch, wretch, latch, hatch, batch, 
larch, birch, crutch, lurch, church, botch, blotch, Scotch, porch, 
poach. 



Zh. 

Observations. — This articulation, which is not uncommon in English, 
arising out of the necessities of fluent utterance, instead of zy, has no appro- 
priate symbol in our orthography. Before alphabetic u=yoo, we have it re- 
presented by s, as in measure, frc. ; and by z, as in seizure, Sfc. It legitimately 
occurs also in lesion, vision, fyc. ; and it is heard in transition, where the regu- 
lar sound of ti, viz. sh, is vocalised, to avoid the less euphonious combination of 
two hissing elements. Careless speakers pronounce zh instead of y in educate, 
credulous, &c, and often even in accented syllables, as duke, duel, fyc. This 
will be carefully avoided by all who desire to speak well. In its formation, this 
element is precisely the same as the preceding, with the addition of glottal 
sound. In this simple state, it occurs initial in no English word, but is inva- 
riably commenced from the obstructive position d. The combination thus pro- 
duced, namely, dzh, is represented by J or G, as in James, George, Sj-c. 

2Zh final is never unaccompanied by d, except in naturalized French words, — 
such as rouge. Its English use is exemplified in judge, cage, &c. In the former 
word, the letter d is redundant, since g alone, as in cage, represents the com- 
bination dzh. The writing of this redundant d is one of our orthographical 
expedients to denote that the preceding vowel is to have its " stopped " or 
" short sound," — and the writing of a final e is another expedient to show 
that the g is to have its " so//," or double sound, and not its "hard" or 



ARTICULATIONS— V. 187 

single sound. How much more easy and natural would it be, — how much per- 
plexity would it save foreigners, — and how many weary tasks and useless 
punishments would it ward from unhappy learners, if we could only be brought 
to submit our orthography to rational correction ? Here, for instance, is a 
division of this work on a sound which our acknowledged literal symbols 
furnish us with no mark to designate, — which is only recognised among the 
elements of our language as one constituent of a double alphabetic sound, — 
apparently deemed iudi visible, because represented by a single letter ; and yet we 
are compelled to use a digraph to represent the half of this alphabetic mono- 
graph, or we could not show its relation to the breath-articulation of the same 
formation, — sh. 

Exercises. 

Zh initial. — Giraffe, girandole. ^ adopted 

Zh final. — Rouge. / French words. 

Between Vowels. — Lesion, adhesion, vision, incision, transition, 
derision, invasion, abrasion, occasion, measure, corrosion, diffusion, 
contusion, delusion, intrusion, illusion. 

(D)zh final— Liege, siege, midge, ridge, age, cage, wage, edge, 
ledge, pledge, hedge, badge, large, barge, serge, urge, budge, 
grudge, lodge, dodge, gamboge, gouge. 



Observations. — In forming this element, the back of the tongue is rounded 
upwards to a close position against the palate at a point intermediate to that of 
the formations sh and ch (German.) If the effort be made to compound these 
elements by sounding both together, the effect of a whispered Y will be pro- 
duced. The tongue thus placed is almost in the position for the vowel ee ; the 
voice in Y has therefore the character of that vowel, — just as in w it has the 
quality of oo. Y and W are articulated forms of the close vowel-sounds ee and oo. 

Y is always vocal in English : a very common fault among careless 
speakers is to aspirate y in connexion with breath articulations, and often to 
convert it into the proximate form sh. Thus tune is pronounced tshoon, — 
beauteous, beautshus ; righteous, rightshus ; &c. This should be avoided, — it 
is mere slovenliness. 

The First Vowel, unaccented, before a vowel, as in filial, saviour, glazier, &c. 
is in many words warrantably shortened into y. After the sound of Sh or Zh, 
as in social, vision, &c. the y is often entirely sunk. 

Y before the First Vowel presents a rather difficult combination. Many 
persons entirely omit the Y in that situation : thus we hear of " an old man 



188 ARTICULATIONS—K. 

bending under a weight of ears,''' instead of " years.'' A little practice will 
enable any one to master the combination without such asinine alterations. 

The letter Y when final is always a vowel : it has the sound of the 2nd vowel 
in such words as many, very, &c. and of the diphthong 7-1 in by, try, &c. 
The Articulation Y is never heard final in English ; it occurs in French, as in 
fifai &c. 

Y initial combines with no articulation. The initial elements P, B, M, F, V, 
Th, (Breath) S, Z, K, G, take Y into combination, but only before the close 
labial vowel oo ; as in pure, beauty, mew, feu, view, thurible, sue, zeugma, 
cupola, gewgaw. L, we have noticed, takes Y imperfectly into combination, 
as in lure, lute, &c. 

Exercises. 
Initial. — Ye, yean, year, yeast, yield, yea, yarely, yell, yellow, 
yelp, yes, yesterday, yet, yam, Yankee, yard, yarn, yerk, yearn, 
young, yon, yonder, yawn, yore, yolk, yokefellow, you, yew, Yule, 

Between Vowels. — Oyer, lawyer, sawyer. 



This articulation is formed by the silent contact and audible separation of 
the back of the tongue and the posterior part of the palate. The precise points 
of contact vary before the different vowels. Before the close lingual vowel ee, 
the tongue strikes the palate much farther forward than before ah or aw. The 
organs may keep to one uniform position before all the vowels, but there is a 
natural tendency to accommodate facility of utterance by these little changes, 
which it would require an effort to avoid. The effect of the "broad" and 
" close" formations (as we have seen them discriminated in a Gaelic grammar, 
but never in an English one) differs only in the vowel quality of the breathing- 
emitted in the explosion that follows the separation of the organs. But an 
English peculiarity of elegant speech depends entirely on this trivial circumstance. 
The posterior " broad" formation which would naturally come before the open 
vowel ah(7) is exchanged for the anterior " close" formation as a euphonism, 
in such words as card, carpet, hind, Sf-c. 

The vocal correspondent of this articulation (G) is subject to the same pecu- 
liarity of formation, in such words as garb, garden, guard, guide, guile, 3fc. 
There is an extremely graceful effect in this, which is but clumsily imitated by 
1 1 lose who interpose an e or a y between the k ov g and the open vowel. 

In Smart's Pronouncing Dictionary, the student is carefully guarded against 
the affectation of sounding y in these cases, but, from the notation adopted, he 
will still be apt to overdo the euphonic effect ; for it is ranked as a separate 
element, represented by an apostrophe — thus, c'ard^ g'arment, S$c. We have 



ARTICULATIONS— K. 189 

described the organic cause of the peculiarity. The words which take tins 
anterior formation of k, before the open vowel 7, are distinguished by italics, 
among the subsequent exercises. 

In any case of indistinct or impeded utterance, the position of the point of 
the tongue in this articulation must be observed. It is often thrust down into 
the bed of the lower jaw, or against the lower teeth, but this is fatal to fluency 
and clearness, and it is also offensive to the eye. The fore-part of the tongue 
must be kept as nearly horizontal as possible in the formation of K. It may 
even be folded backwards for the posterior K, but it can never be suffered to 
descend without a sacrifice of neatness, which a speaker of refined taste would 
not willingly make. 

To the Stammerer the observation of the tongue is particularly necessary. He 
generally forms his k by forcing up the middle of the tongue against the top 
of the palatal arch, while the point of the tongue aids the effort to hold it there 
by pressing down against the lower teeth or gums. The jaw, too, bears up- 
wards with force upon the tongue, which, in the paroxysm of impediment, the 
Stammerer is utterly unable to move. Sometimes the fixture of the tongue is 
less complete, and in it6 efforts to leave the palate, the antagonist forces throw 
the whole mouth and features into convulsive distortion. The Stammerer must 
practise this articulation with his mouth widely opened and motionless, so 
that the tongue may be free to strike and leave the palate unaffected by motions 
of the jaw. Let the tongue be well exercised in the simple action of k, in com- 
bination with the open vowels ah and aw, until it can give off the syllables 
with rapidity, and entirely by its own action. 

ah kah kah kah kah kah kah, &c. 

aw caw caw caw caw caw caw, &c. 

akakakakakak, &c. ; ockockockockockock, &c. 

The same may then be done with all the vowels ; and the syllables may be 
arranged in word-clusters — dissyllabic, trissyllabic, and polysyllabic — with 
varying accents. — Thus 

ickik, eckek, akakak, okokok, ukukuk, &c. 

After this exercise the Stammerer should be able to master lists of words with 
k initial. Let hira remember — if he find them inclined to be difficult, that the 
k is merely a position from which to commence the succeeding vowel ; that the 
initial letter may practically be considered as done, whenever the organs meet ; 
for that then he has only to exert his voice to emit the vowel : the doing which 
will open the mouth, and so finish the articulation, without his farther care. If 
he attempt to make anything more of the consonant by pressure, he must inevit- 
ably fail. 

The following will be found a useful exercise on the three breath obstructive 
formations, P, T, K. 

katapa, kapata, pakata, pataka, tapaka, takapa \—with e, I, o. 60 : 

kakpaptat, tatkakpap, papkaktat, } . , « * « « . 
kaktatpap, tatpapkak, paptatkak ; \ mm e ' Ij °' u ' 



190 ART1CULAT10NS—K. 

Not only the Stammerer, but all speakers, especially those whose enunciations 
are indistinct, should cultivate this sort of oral gymnastics, as one of the most 
powerful means of improving the articulation. 

A common ungainliness of speech, and a frequent aggravation of a Stammerer's 
difficulty, arises, in words begining with qu, from anticipating the w, by project- 
ing the lips while the tongue remains in the attitude of K. The mouth can do 
only one thing at a time. 

K initial combines only with iv, r, /, and y, as in quick, crime, climb, cure. 
K unites with initials, as in scheme, scream, &c. and with no other articulation. 

Exercises. 

Initial. — Keep, keen, keel, kipper, kick, kitten, kindred, cape, 
cake, cane, kail, cage, keg, kedge, kept, kettle, ketch, captain, 
caftan, cat, cabin, cavern, caddy, canister, calumny, cast, cask, 
calf, calm, calve, car, carbon, card, cargo, carking, carman, carnal, 
carp, carpet, cart, carve, kirtle, kerchief, cup, cuff, curse, custom, 
curfew, cutler, curt, curb, cupboard, cumber, cover, cud, cunning, 
colander, corpse, cough, cost, cockleary, cottage, cobble, cockle, 
compromise, conic, confidence, conch, coarse, court, cope, coke, 
coat, coast, code, cove, comb, cone, coal, coach, coop, coo, cook, 
coot, coom, cool, kite, kibe, kindness, kine ; cow, cowl, cower ; 
coy, coif, coil, coin, coistrel. 

Kw. — Quack, quadrate, quaff, quaggy, quail, quaint, quake, 
qualify, qualm, quantity, quarantine, quarrel, quarter, quash, 
quassia, quaver, queen, queasy, queer, quest, quell, quench, query, 
querulous, quibble, quick, quiet, quill, quilt, quinary, quincunx, 
quinsy, quintain, quire, quirk, quit, quiver, quiz, quoit, quondam, 
quorum, quote, quotient, quoth, cuirass. 

Kl. — Cleave, clean, clear, clip, click, cliff, claymore, clavated, 
clement, clever, cleanse, clapper, clash, clatter, clamber, clavicle, 
clad, clannish, clarify, class, clasp, clerk, clergy, cluster, cluck, 
clutter, club, clumsy, clunch, clung, clutch, claw, cloth, clock, 
clot, clod, clog, clause, cloak, clothe, close, (v.) clew, climb, cloud, 
clown, cloy, cloister. 

Kr. — Grape, crake, crate, crave, craze, craber, cradle, cripple, 
crisp, cricket, critical, crib, criminal, creep, Creole, crease, creak, 
cream, creed, creel, crepitate, crescent, crevice, credulous, crassi- 
tude, crash, crackle, crab, cram, cramp, cranny, crag, crank, 
crash, craunch, crupper, crush, crumble* crunk, crutch, crop, 
croft, cross, crock, crotchet, chronicle, crow, croak, crone, crew, 
crewel, croop, crucify, crook, cruise, crude, croon, cry, crisis, 
crime, crinite, crowd, crown, crouch. 

95fib ,93ttl 



ARTICULATIONS— K. 191 

Ky. — Kew, kufic, kumis, cue, cube, cubeb, cucumber, culin- 
ary, cuneal, cupreous, curative, curule, cute, cuticle. 

Between vowels. — Leaky, freakish, weaker, liquor, fickle, ticket, 
bicker, wickedness, acorn, shaking, baker, maker, waking, naked, 
echo, freckle, decorate, wrecker, chequer, packet, faculty, sacking, 
shackle, tackle, lacquer, racket, jacket, pucker, sucker, huckle, 
bucket, knuckle, lucky, chuckle, pocket, socket, shocking, mocker, 
knocker, locket, rocket, pawky, calker, talkative, hawker, mawkish, 
gawky, chalky, poker, token, brokerage, croaking, choking, 
joking, cuckoo, bookish, rookery, lucre, diker, liking. 

K before an articulation. — Pickpocket, thick-pate, luck-penny, 
duck-pond, cockpit, rock-pigeon, sack-posset ; accident, pack-staff, 
text, tax, lax, cracks, ecstacy, excellent, six, text, vexing, dexterous, 
next, cheeks, — pyx, fixture, bricks, mixture, vixen, — ox, flocks, 
rock-salt, socks, shocks, intoxicate, box, docks, Occident, — succinct, 
huckster, buxom, dux, luxate, luxury, juxtaposition ; action, 
paction, factious, attraction* transaction, — affection, section, vection, 
connection, lection, objection, — fictious, conviction, dictionary, — 
auction, decoction, obnoxious, — suction, fluxions, junction, anxious; 
act, pact, active, factory, cactus, tact, hacked, backed, lacteal, 
dactyl, — affected, ectype, sect, lecture, erect, nectar, rector, 
checked, projectile, — picture, fictile, victor, addict, dictate, lictor, — 
construct, ductile, conductor, ducked, instruct, — octave, shocked, 
concoct, mocked, doctor, proctor, noctuary, locked ; backbone, black- 
ball, sackbut, sick-bed; acme, packman, blackmail; — blackthorn; 
backwards, awkward, aqua, equity, requisite, liquid, ubiquity, 
equal, sequel, breakwater, colloquial, bookworm, lukewarm : — 
back-door, backbite, background, back-piece, blackbird, black-jack, 
black-cock, blackleg, blacksmith, blockhead, book-binder, book- 
keeper, book- mate, crackbrained, cook-room, cookmaid, inkling, 
uncle, microscope, nictate, nictitating, nucleus, pic-nic, siccity, 
tincture, vectitation, workhouse. 

Final. — Eke, pique, freak, seek, cheek, pick, kick, brick, wick, 
ache, opaque, sake, cake, take, break, make, lake, rake, peck, 
beck, deck, neck, wreck, cheque, pack, back, lac, rack, sack, tack, 
arc, park, cark, barque, bark, dark, irk, dirk, perk, kirk, jerk, 
suck, tuck, buck, duck, luck, chuck, work, lurk, murk, sturk, 
sock, shock, fork, cork, calk, talk, walk, hock, mock, dock, lock, 
rock, pork, poke, folk, coke, woke, croak, choke, puke, fluke, for- 
sook, shook, cook, took, hook, book, duke, nook, look, rook, pike, 
like, dike. 



19* ARTICULATIONS— G. 



G. 

Observations. — The formation of this element is precisely the same as 
that of the preceding, but with the addition of an effort of voice during the con- 
tact of the articulating organs. It thus differs from K analogously as B docs 
from P, and D from T. Our remarks on the position of the tongue, &c. in 
forming K, will therefore equally apply to this letter, and the exercises arranged 
for K, may, with the substitution of G, be adopted to perfect the articulation of 
this element. 

G, before the open vowels 7 and 8, and the diphthong 7-1, takes, in some 
words, the same anterior formation as K in the same situation, producing a soft 
effect — almost, but not quite, — of the articulation Y. The words which take 
this formation of G, are distinguished by italics among the Exercises. 

A very common fault in the formation of G initial, consists in a degree of 
nasality, which, for want of sufficient energy of articulation, precedes and 
weakens the explosiveness of the letter, — good being pronounced ny-good, Sfc. 
The explosive property of the letter must be forcibly practised to correct this 
habit — and, indeed, to make it manifest to ears unaccustomed to close observa- 
tion of the sounds of speech. It is a fault precisely analogous to the less com- 
mon one of sounding m before b, or n before d, as m-but for but; n-donH for don't. 
The vocal sound of this letter is very often feeble, or altogether wanting. It 
cannot be continued indefinitely, but it is capable of considerable prolongation, 
and the student should have the power of lengthening the vocality to the utmost, 
as a means of expressiveness. He should practise the following combinations of 
the three letters of this class, giving to the articulations in the accented syllables all 
the vocality he can, but carefully guarding against a nasal tone. In B, D, or 
G, the voice can only be continued while the breath may pass into the pharynx ; 
when this cavity is fully distended, the sound must cease, and on separating the 
organs, a distinct explosion of the compressed breath will take place. If this 
explosive effect is feeble, or if the sound is easily continued beyond a couple 
of seconds, the voice may be suspected to be passing through the nostrils, 
ga ba da, ga da ba ; ba da ga, ba ga da ; da ba ga, 'da ga ba, 
witli e, i, o, oo — and with varying accents. 
G, like K, is subject to the error of lateral explosiveness before L, — glove, 
globe, Sfc. being pronounced dlove, dlobe, S$c. There is no organic necessity 
to plead for this defect. The cure consists in rousing up the tongue to activity. 
G initial combines with w, r, I, and y ; but very rarely with the first and 
last of these in English. G enters into combination with no initial articulation. 

Exercises. 

Initial. — Gay, gape, gate, gable, Gaelic, gaiter, gala, gain, gale, 
gaze, gauge, gibber, giddy, gig, guinea, gittern, gairish, guest, get, 



ARTICULATIONS— G. 193 

geek, geese, gear, gabble, gadfly, gag, galaxy, gambol, gamble, 
gamut, ganglion, ghastly, gargarize, garb, garble, guard, guard- 
ian, garden, garland, garment, garnish, garter, garth, gird, girdle, 
girth, guerdon, girl, girlish, gudgeon, gulf, gulp, gullet, gumption, 
gun, gurgle, gush, gusset, gust, gutter, guzzle, guy, guise, guide, 
guidance, guile, guileful, gout, gown, goitre. 

Between Vowels. — Eager, eagle, leaguer, regal, piggery, higgle, 
bigger, vigour, digging, nigger, giggle, wriggle, trigger, jigger, 
plaguy, pagan, vagous, jegget, beggar, legate, agate, haggle, maga- 
zine, baggage, maggot, vagabond, waggon, dagger, gaggle, laggard, 
ragged, jagged, sluggard, tugging, hugger-mugger, smuggle, drug- 
get, rugged, j uggle, maugre, augur, flogging, cogger, hoggish, boggle, 
dogged, noggin, goggle, logarithm, joggle, toga, roguish, frugal, 
sugar, bugle, tiger, bygone. 

Gw. — Guelph, (guano, guava.)* 

Gl. — Glee, glean, glebe, glede, gleek, glib, glimmer, glisten, 
glitter, glacial, glade, glaze, glave, glazier, glare, glairy, glen, 
glacier, glad, gladiate, gland, glandular, glance, glass, glut, glut- 
ton, glum, glauber, glaucoma, globule, glomerate, gloss, glossary, 
glottis, gloar, glory, glorious, glorify, glow, gloat, globe, gloze, 
glue, gluey, gluten, gloom, glucine, glide. 

Gr. — Grease, greasy, greaves, greedy, Greek, greet, gregal, 
gremial, grief, grievance, gridiron, griffon, grig, grill, grim, grin, 
grisly, gritty, gristle, grape, graceful, gracious, great, grateful, 
greyhound, gray, graybeard, grave, gradient, grain, grail, grena- 
dier, grapple, gracile, gratify, grabble, grammar, grampus, graph- 
ic, gravity, graduate, grand, granary, grallic, graft, grass, grasp, 
grub, grudge, gruff, grumble, grunt, groat, grogram, grotto, grovel, 
grow, grope, gross, grows, grove, groan, grew, gruel, group, groom, 
grumous, groove, gripe, grime, grise, grind, grouse^ ground, groin. 

Gy. — Gules, gewgaw. 

Before an Articulation. — Quagmire, agminal, bagman, magpie, 
ragman, segment, pigment, figment, sigma, enigma, rigmarole, 
dogmatise, zeugma, flags, plagues, intrigues, rogues, pegs, figs, 
frogs, mugs, jugs, exultation, exotic, exhibit, exempt, zigzag, 
exergue, exist, hogshead, fagged, bagged, gagged, pegged, begged, 


* These words, perhaps most frequently among the educated, retain the 
Spanish sound r/op, rather than take the English form gw. The distinction 
manifests the difference between the ArticulatioJi W and the Vovel no, which 
inanv persons seem to have great difficulty in discriminating. 

Bb 



194 ARTICULATIONS— NG. 

wigged, cogged, flogged, hugged, leagued, prorogued, stagnate, 
magnet, impregnate, regnant, interregnum, agnate, ignorance, 
igneous, ignominy, signet, signal, dignity, lignin, lignum-vitee, 
cognisant, cognate, pugnacious, ague, figure, integument, ambi- 
guous, ligure, singular, angular, regulate, aigulet, jugular, aglet, 
straggler, dangling, wrangler, ganglion, giggler, singly, tingling, 
jingling, ugly, gurgling, bungler, eaglet, egress, ogress, integrity, 
migrate, vagrant, nigrin, negro, geography, angry, hungry, mon- 
grel, gangrene, jigjog, unguent, sanguine, languid, languor. 

Final. — Teague, intrigue, league, fig, whig, wig, big, pig, dig, 
gig, rig, jig, plague, vague, egg, peg, keg, leg, flag, stag, shag, 
tag, bag, wag, nag, gag, lag, rag, jag, plug, slug, tug, hug, bug, 
mug, dug, snug, lug, rug, jug, frog, cog, tog, bog, dog, agog, log, 
jog, epilogue, apologue, prologue, disembogue, vogue, rogue, pro- 
rogue, fugue, exergue. 



NG. 
This is the nasal form of the preceding element : the organic formation by 
the tongue and palate is precisely that of G ; but the velum or soft palate is 
removed from the nares, and the pharynx being thus rendered incapable of re- 
taining the breath, the sonorous current passes freely out of the nostrils. 

Ng is never used as an initial articulation in English ; but it does occur as 
such in some languages : — For instance, in Welsh and in Russ. Among 
individual cacophonic peculiarities, ng is sometimes heard instead of I. This is 
generally accompanied by burring. The tongue, either from bad habit, or 
from inability to leave the lower jaw, lies in the bed of the mouth, and forms 
the linguo-palatal articulations by the middle of the tongue striking 
against the roof of the mouth. This makes the position for I nearly, or alto- 
gether obstructive, and the effort to give continuous voice to the letter, of 
course sends the vocal stream through the nose. We have heard this glaring 
error even in the pulpit. 

Softw^y and sweet, in ng'iqmd ngajs, 

The heavenly han^engujahs raise ! 

In most cases, this, like nine tenths of all varieties of defective articulation, 
is perfectly curable : and even where there is a structural malformation, Art 
can do much to lessen and cover the peculiarity. 

It is a general principle of articulation, that the organs employed in forming 
any element should be separated in order to complete it. We have explained 
at page 47, the reason that in thus finishing ng, there is a tendency, greater 
than in the case of the other nasal sounds, to give a degree of compression and 



ARTICULATIONS—NG. \9b 

consequent explosiveness to the breath— producing the double articulation ng g, 
or ng k. Many persons find it difficult to finish ng by separation of the organs 
without producing some effect of G or K, and they consequently form the 
articulation imperfectly by simply stopping the sound in the glottis. When, 
however, the ng final is followed by a word beginning with a vowel, the 
organs must come apart ; and with the vowel — out comes the G. 

The best way to get out of this habit is to practise ng as an initial before 
all the vowels. This will have the effect of at once manifesting the existence 
and the nature of the defect, and the power to give the soft terminational action 
will very soon be acquired. 

nga, nge, ngi, ngo, ngoo, 
ngang, ngeng, nging, ngong, ngung. 

Exception has been taken by some critics to the English mode of writing this 
element by ng, because its sound contains neither an n nor a g. That the Al- 
phabet does not supply a single character to represent this sound, which is un- 
questionably simple, is undoubtedly a fault ; but until we have a distinctive 
character, we could not wish a better digraph than ng — which, very appro- 
riately, we think, symbolizes a nasal G. 

N before g or k, (unless when the g or k is in the accented syllable, as in un- 
godly, unkind, &c.) generally takes the sound of ng ; for the same reason that 
n before p, b, or m, is converted into m — namely, the greater fluency of the 
combination. Thus the digraph ng often has correctly the sound of ng-g as in 
finger, longer, S$c. The omission of the g in these words is a Scotticism. 



Exercises. 

Between vowels. — Hanger, hanging, banging, singer, bringing, 
wringing, gingham, ringer, longing, wronging, bunging, dunging, 
swinging, o'erhanging, singing. 

Before a breath articulation. — Length, strength, strengthen, 
lengthen, lengthwise, anchor, frank, thank, sank, shank, crank, 
tank, handkerchief, banker, vanquish, dank, lank, rank, — ink, 
pink, think, sink, kink, tinkle, minx, wink, zinc, drink, link, 
wrinkle, chink, conch, concord, donkey, trunk, sunk, monkey, 
quidnunc, junket, anxious, unction, compunction, youngker, 
youngster, banquet. 

Before a voice articulation. — Hangman, pangs, fangs, kingly, 
wrongly, tongueless, youngling, youngly, anger, angry, angle, 
spangle, sanguine, tangle, mangle, dangle, ganglion, gangrenous, 
languish, anguish, wrangle, — pinguid, finger, single, shingle, 
tingle, mingle, dingle, dangle, linger, jingle, longer, fungus, 
hunger, bungle, younger, youngest. 

Final. — Pang, fang, flang, sang, stang, slang, clang, hang^ 



1<>G ARTICULATIVE EXERCISES. 

bang, fling, thing, sing, sting, spring, string, sling, king, cling, 
ting, bring, wing, ding, ling, wring, prong, thong, song, gong, long, 
wrong, flung, sung, sprung, slung, clung, tongue, hung, bung, 
among, dung, young, lung, wrung. 



ARTICULATIVE EXERCISES. 

The passages that follow contain instances, — 1st, of Double 
Articulations ; 2nd, of Difficult Articulate Combinations ; 
3rd, of Alliterations and Difficult Sequences ; and, 4th, of 
Miscellaneous Difficulties. 

The eye is directed by italics to the leading points for practice 
in the different sentences. 

Double Articulations. 
Hear both elements distinctly, with as little hiatus as pos- 
sible. 

A figure reg&l like, with solemn march, 

Goes slow and stately by ; whilst tAey, distill'd 

Almost to jelly witA the act o//ear, 

Stand dumb, and speafc not to him. 
Oh ! studied deceit ! 

Fear is a good watchman, but a bad defender. 
Hypocrites first cAeat the world, and at last, too, themselves. 
One vice is more expensive tAan five virtues. 
Spend time in good duties, and treasure in good deeds. 
Time is so swift of foot tAat none can overtake it. 
Trust not too far, and mistrust not too fast. 
Use soft words, but hard arguments. 
A little heaven leavenetA the whole Jump. 
" Make clean our hearts within us." 

In bulk as huge as whom the fables name of monstrous Jsize. 

(eyes. 
Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots ? 
Vaunt-couriers of oafc-cleaving thunderbolts. 
" His palsied hands seemed to wa# strong." 
In horrid climes where Chiloe's tempests sweep. 
Our soul foathetA this light tread. 
Was it a wailing bird of the gloom, 
WhicA sArieks on the house of woe all night ? 



ARTICULATIVE EXERCISES. 197 

Whose beard) descending swept his aged breast, 
beer) 
" And on the bridge of his well- arched nose 
Sit Laughter plumed, and white-winged Jollity." 
Learn to live as you'd desire to die. 
Idleness is an evil, — doing nought is next to doing naughtily. 

Difficult Combinations. 
Give each of the clustered elements its full separate audibility, 
without hiatus. 

" Yet the lark's sArill fi/e may come." 

" And the floors stall be full 0/ wheat, and the fats sAall over- 
flow with wine and oil." 

" Behold, I will do a thing in Israel, at which both the ears of 
every one that heareth it shall tingle." 

" What though each spark of earth-born rapture fly !" 
" In septennial parliaments, your representatives have si,r years 
for offence, and but one for atonement." 

Can the husbandman look forward with assured confidence to 
the expected increase of his fields ? 

" Now on the leafless yew it plays." 
" Long has it hung from the cold yew's spray." 
" Oft by thai yew on the blasted field." 
Examples prevail when precepts /ail 
Frequent good company. 
Put the cut pumpkin in a pip Ann. 

A pair of ("Irish yews. 
(Irish shoes. 
" Then pealed the notes omnipotent to charm, 
And the loud tocsin tolled their last alarm." 

Nor yet in the cold) ground, 
coalj" 

My little ones kissed me a thousand rimes o'er. 

In praising sparing be, and blame most sparingly. 

Malice seldom wants a mark to aim at. 

We must not blame fortune for our faults. 

We must look to time past to improve what is to come. 

Alliterations and Difficult Sequences. 

The reiteration of these sentences, as rapidly as may be done 

with distinctness, will render them most improving Exercises. 

Poor men want much, but wealthy men want more. 



198 AUT1CULAT1VE EXERCISES. 

Rags and liberty rather than links and riches. 

Let reason rule your life. 

A versifier wants a very wonderful variety of words. 

Hope, open thou his eye to look on high, and his ear to hear. 

Teach thy heart the holy art of /lumbly hearing truth. 

Robert loudly rebuked Richard, who ran lustily roaring around 
the lobby. 

Ruglen's lums reek briskly. 

Rob Low's lum reeks. 

Twice 2, and twice 2, with two times twice 2, 2, and twice 2, 
are twenty-two. 

Thrice three, and three times 3, with three-fold threes, and 3, 
and 3, are thirty-three. 

Four times 4, and 4, with 4, and 4, and four times 4, are 
forty-four. 

Five fives, and four fives, with five, and five, are fifty-five. 

Six times 6, and six times 6, minus 6, are sixty-six. 

Seven times 7, and thrice 7, with 7 more, are seventy-seven. 

Eight times 8, and one 8, with 8 and 8, are eighty-eight. 

Nine times 9, with 9, and 9, and no more nines, are ninety-nine. 

Geese cackle, cattle low, cats and kittens caterwaul, cocks 
crow, and crows caw. 

Sam snuffs shop snuff, — do you snuff shop snuff ? 

Fill the sieve with thistles, and sift the thistles in the sieve. 

1 like white wine vinegar with veal very well. 

A man's manners, more than his merit, make or mar his for- 
tune. 

Drinking may drown care, hut cannot cure it. 

Death is a direful debt we all are doomed to discharge. 

The fool and the philosopher, princes, potentates, and paupers 
— all must j?ass the portals of the grave. 

Learn what you like to learn, delight in learning what you 
learn, and learn to like what is laudable. 

Find a friend in adversity. 

Godliness with contentment is great #ain. 

Human life has to hazard the heart-aches of hot-headed 
humanity. 

Have hope in holiness. 

He Aumbly honours the hoary head. 

Hope is the highway to happiness. 



ARTICULATIVE EXERCISES. 199 

He that swims in sin, must soon sink in sorrow. 

Kings, as well as mean men, must die, — the conqueror cannot 
carry his kingdom or his crown to the catacombs. 

Money makes many men mad. 

Diligence derides difficulties, and defies detriments. 

Passion, partiality, and prejudice, are popularly plenipotent. 

Sin and sorrow are inseparable. 

Time and tide tarry not for the tardy. 

Value virtue more than fame or fortune. 

Virtue finds favour with all, though few fully follow it. 

Yield not, you young, to useless yearnings, nor yet ye in years. 

How high her highness holds her haughty head. 

The witwal wings her weary way, where winter winds wither 
the waving woods. 

A merchant's mismanagement makes much mischief to the mer- 
cantile machine. 

Vice vainly veers in variegated velvet, — virtue veils her votaries 
in vulgar velveteen. 

False friends are far more formidable than fiercest foes. 

They thought that throughout the theological theme they were 
thwarted in their theory. 

Several sailors saw the sottish soldier stagger senselessly to his 
solitary cell. 

Grea£ gains are got bj gradual gatherings. 

Many match-makers mistake the meaning of matrimony, 
mating much money with mirth or moodiness, and marrying all 
manner of minds. 

As tippling, too often, in time turns to toping, temperance, we 
are told, is not to be trusted, but the tighter tie of tee-totalism 
takes away all tendency to intoxication. 

Sunshine scatters life and loveliness around. The flowers feel 
its fertilizing fervour, and spread their sweet-scented petals to 
the beauty-bestowing pencil of their empyrean parent. All 
creation's kinds, from the crawling insect to the creature king, — 
man, monarch bj the might of mind, — share in the sweet sensa- 
tions which the sun inspires. Sorrow is assuaged, and smiles 
supplant the streaming tears of the sunken spirit, and renovate 
the rosy ruddiness of the cheerless cheek, and the bright brilliancy 
of the beamless eyes, while the heart heaves high with hope, and 
the whole soul is harmonized into happiness. 



200 ARTICULATIVE EXERCISES. 

Rough rolls the river's rapid course through rugged rows of 
rocks. 

Bac? company makes the goo<2 6ecome bad, and the bad, &t best, 
it tetters not. 

Wickedness, as well as virtue, wins upon us by degrees. 

Captain Cunningham cut and come again. 

Let the soup be heated before I eat it. 

Peter Piper's peacock picked a peck of pickling pepper from a 
paper packet. Did Peter Piper's peacock pick a peck of pickling 
pepper from a paper packet ? If Peter Piper's peacock picked a 
peck of pickling pepper from a paper packet, where 's the paper 
packet whence the pretty speckled peacock picked ? 

Miscellaneous. 

Many of the following passages require very minute distinctive- 
ness of utterance. Attend to the italicised points. 

Be wise betimes, and warily beware. 

To be loved is less than to be beloved. 

If you be comely, behave becomingly ; if you be not, be becom- 
ing in behaviour, and you will become comely. 

Art thou afeard to be the same in thine own 1 act and valour, 
as thou art in desire ? thy known ]" 

Oh ! the torment of (an ever-meddling memory, 
(a never 

He was left in an inanimate state. 

Every concession should be made in disputable or indifferent 

cases. 

" Yet half I see the panting (spirit sigh." 

1 spirit's eye. 
" A warm tear gushed, — the wintry air 
Congealed it as it flowed away ; 

All night it lay (an ice-drop there, 

(a nice 
At morn it glittered in the ray." 
The dispute about the jewel led to a fatal duel. 

" A grammatist did you call that ignorant wiseling ?" "No! 
an agrammatist I said." " What, anagrammatist ? — Why he 
could not spell the word, far less write an anagram." " You do 
not understand me, — I did not mean an anagrammatist, but 
simply an agrammatist." 



ARTICULATIVE EXERCISES. 201 

A midshipman amid shipmen. 

The all-potent eight have over reached the potentate. 

Anatomy could not dissect an atomy so small. 

You must abbreviate your abbreviature. 

Choose a better companion than the abettor of a bettor. 

Absurd it is to listen to such absurdities. 

Although a Count he must be brought to account for this. 

" The moon is not a crescent now, — she is gibbous." " Well, 
she is still accrescent." 

Look through the aisle and you will see the island. 

My friend is not a lawyer ; (10- Y) — he is alloy er(lO-\)m the mint. 

Already we have got all ready. 

Always try all ways to succeed. 

I see no analogy here, I should rather call it an alogy. 

A part has been laid apart. 

Apperception means simply a perception. 

The would-be-wise apposer has at last got a poser himself. 

I beg to apprize you of the capture of a prize. 

This land greatly needs aration, and that would yield a ration 
to the starving labourers. 

I would not give a cent to see the ascent. 

I do asseverate that this is the best hay ass ever ate. 

He has gone away a way of his own. 

Dr Rush calls every vowel a ionic,— and the Voiceless articu- 
lations he calls atonic. 

To what cause can I attribute a tribute so nattering ? 

Aucupation is a cruel occupation. 

The doctrines of the Aularian are said to be all Arian. 

Of what avail is a veil so thin ? 

I could get bail if the bailiff would permit me. 

You should not be droll when the beadroll is read. 

Sancho wears a plate on his breast for a breast-plate,— he calls 
it a cuirass, — is not Sancho a queer ass ? 

The Muses may be nine in number, — but benign to my numbers 
they are not. 

This bodice is large enough for two bodies. 

I saw the maniac threateningly brandish a large bran-dish. 

The armed brig aids by sea the brigades on shore. 

" Persevere /" was the order given to the chicken-hearted 

c c 



202 ARTICULATIVE EXERCISES. 

Captain P. — He read it " Percy, veer /" and turned off from his 
dangerous post. 

Kate if I knew who the caitiff was, I would horsewhip him. 

A caravan sir is the travelling troop, — their resting places or 
inns are caravansaries. 

" Give the cat stale bread." " The cat's tail, mamma?" 
" Silence child." 

" How do you sell the white sheep V " White sheep ? — why, 
cheap." 

Each clansman bore a great sheaf as a harvest tribute to the 
gray chief. 

" He is far from well. His wound is cicatrizing, but he, poor 
fellow, is always so himself." " Always, how ?" " Why, sick at 
rising /" 

Will you assist us to plant a cistus ? 

I never saw coctile food given to a cock till now. 

Whether he credit or no what I say, I shall let his creditor 
know. 

A constant smirk upon the face, and a whiffling activity of the 
body, are strong indications o//utility. 
A sad angler A sad dangler 

The same arrow The same marrow 

To obtain either To obtain neither 

Goodness enters in the heart Goodness centres in the heart 
His cry moved me His crime moved me 

He will pray to anybody He will prate to anybody 

The row proved long The rope proved long 

He could pay nobody He could pain nobody 

A languid aim A languid dame 

Luxurious oil Luxurious soil 

Chase tars. Chaste stars. 



PART THIRD. 



THE POWERS OF THE LETTERS. 



In learning to write a language, it would be but natural to begin 
with a knowledge of its letters : in learning to speak one, it would 
be as natural, surely, that we should first acquire a knowledge of 
its sounds. But this is not the custom among us. Our Abece- 
darians begin by teaching us " our letters ;" that is, not their 
powers — the sounds for which they stand — though even this 
would be a weary and profitless labour — but their names ; the 
words by which the letters, as written symbols, are spoken of ; 
and which often bear but little or no relation to their actual 
sounds. The work of mastering the elements of reading is 
thus rendered difficult beyond conception ; and instead of every 
advancing stage being a valuable synthetical lesson, involving 
the mental processes of reflection and association, it becomes a 
mere trick of habit and memory, a work of mindless drudgery. 
As some slight assistance to the youthful student, he is perhaps 
taught the powers of the letters, but here again all is confusion 
and complexity ; for he has the same sounds to learn over and 
over again, in connexion with their various and irregular marks : 
he has to recognise, for instance, the five alphabetic vowel cha- 
racters, as representative of not less than SO sounds ; so that he 
can gain no clear knowledge of the simplicity of the actual 
elements of speech. And — strangely enough — at no future period 
of his scholastic course does such knowledge form any part of his 
acquirements. 

Yet this, we maintain, should be the first thing taught. The 
reason, perhaps, why it is not so, — or, at least, why it is altogether 
neglected, — is, that teachers themselves are generally ignorant of 
this department of elementary knowledge. Their own education 
not only gave them none of this important knowledge, but, in a 
great measure, unfitted them for becoming observers, and ac- 
quiring it for themselves. 



204 THE POWERS OF THE LETTERS. 

The following examples furnish some curious illustrations of 
the orderless condition of English orthography. The test of a 
correct representation of sounds would be, that all letters, in 
whatever arrangement, and however transposed, should retain 
their fixed individual sounds : as in the case of the word end ; 
the letters of which may be transposed to ned or den, while each 
retains its own unaltered power. 

As a man's character is best known by the company he keeps, 
so the alphabetic characters are only to be sounded with certainty 
when we know the literal society in which they are found. 

Thus ; transpose the vowels in chase, and, not unnaturally, the 
chase results in aches. The largest moat may be literally proved 
to be but an atom. — By mere disjunction of letters that which 
was nowhere is now here. — Wo to him who shall take a t from two, 
even as to him who shall dare to separate man from woman. — 
Though you remove the t from there, yet here it remains. — Put c 
before hanged — and lo ! how it is changed ! — Of all the letters in 
the alphabet e is of most use to us; — though b and y certainly 
make us busy. — You cannot join / to of, but it will instantly be 
off. — S may well be called a " sharp" letter, when it can convert a 
word into a sword. — Though you take the first and last letters 
from know yet it is now, no. — " Dust we are," and even the heart 
resolves itself into earth. — We can take c from cease with ease ; 
but w cannot be removed from wart without art ; and he who 
would take v from vague will have an ague. — Take g from gown 
— it loses nothing of its own ; add g to one, and, lo ! it is gone. — 
Prefix e to we it becomes ewe ; unite thy and me they produce 
thyme. Add one / to our — the product is four. — Take off the w 
from won — it remains on ; put it before hat — it is what ? try it 
before here — it is where ! Transpose the letters in node and bring 
s to aid : — no sooner said than done. — The three letters in own 
may be arranged into won; repeat the transposition, and own 
them now, not won. B makes a salver out of salve, transforms a 
cow into a crow t and lengthens eve into ever. E changes the pro- 
noun ye into an eye, and the preposition to into a toe, and makes on 
also become one. C charms away all harms, and its absence will 
hough a chough. Give a B to an owl — it will become a bowl ; 
keep it from Tom, or it will send him to the tomb. Take s from 
shoes they become hoes ; if you ask how, s will promptly shovj it. 
By taking t, he who forges, immediately forgets. Y converts a 



SOUNDS OF THE VOWEL MARKS. 205 

colon into a colony, and makes what is ours become yours. The 
change of p into / puts puss in a fuss. Write an / and you will 
have fever for ever I 

These examples might be increased to any extent, but they are 
sufficient to show how little of rule there can be, founded on 
letters, to guide the foreigner or the youthful learner to the correct 
utterance of our written words. In further illustration of the 
incongruities of our letters, and the inconsistent way in which they 
represent our sounds, we have compiled the following Tables, 
which show, in separate arrangements, the sounds of our vowel and 
articulation marks, and the marks of our vowel and articulate 
sounds. 

SOUNDS OF THE VOWEL MARKS. 

The figures refer to the English Vowel Scheme, page 31. Y and W 
among the figures are Articulations. 

A has the sound of 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 10, as in 

2 3 4 5 6 7 10 

orange, ale, ( care, add, path, arm, ( all, 

{ any, { sw&n. 

E " 1, 2, 4, 7, 8, Y as in 

12 4 7 8 

eve, England, ( ere, clerk, err, righteous, (yus.) 
\ ever, 

1 2 7-18 

I 1, 2, 7-1, 8, Y, as in pique, ill, isle, bird, million, (yon.) 

" 2, 7-13, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, as in 

2 7-13 9 10 11 12 13 

women 



, accompt, f word, J orb, ore, ode, f do, 
1 son, \ on ( uolf. 

9 13 

, j bum, f rule, use, persuade. 
I bud, \ bull, 



2 4 9 13 Y13 W 

U " 2, 4, 9, 13, Y13, W, as in busy, bury 



2 7-18 Y 

Y 2, 7-1, 8, Y, as in hymn, by, myrrh, ye. 

4 5 

AA " 4, 5, as in Aaron, Isaac. 

l 
M n 1, as in Ca?sar. 

1 3-1 3-4 4 4 

AE " 1, 3-1, 3-4, 4, as in aerie, ae'rial, Israel, aer, Michaelmas. 

2 3 3-2 4 5 7 1 

AI " 2, 3, 3-2, 4, 5, 7-1, as in captain, ail, dais, f air, plaid, aisle. 

\ said, 
AG " 3, 3-10, 3-12, 10, 12, as in 

3 3 10 3-10 3-12 10 12 

gaol, chaos — aorta, Aonian, extraordinary, Pharaoh. 

3 7 10 12 

AD " 3, 7, 10, 12, as in gauge, aunt, f aught, hauteur. 

I laurel, 



206 SOUNDS OF THE VOWEL MARKS. 

10 6VV 

AW have the sound of 10, 6W, as in awful, away. 

2 3 4 71 

AY " 2, 3, 4, 7-1, as in Monday, lay, f prayer, ay. 

AOU " 13 or 7-13, as in caoutchouc. 
AWE " 10, as in awe. 

3 3-2 3 4 

AYE " 3, 3-2, 3-4, as in aye, gayety, gayest. 
EA " 1, 1-3, 1-5, 1-6, 2, 3, 4, 7, 8, as in 

1 1-3 1-5 1-6 2 3 4 7 8 

each, create, react, area, guineas, great, /wear, heart, earl. 

\hgalth. 

1 1-4 2 

EE " 1, 1-4, 2, as in bee, re-enter, breeches. 

1 4 

E'E " 1, 4, as in e'en, ne'er. 

11-2 2 3 4 7-1 

EI " 1, 1-2, 2, 3, 4, 7-1, as in ceil, reimburse, forfeit, veil, (heir, height. 

(hSifer. 

EO " 1, 1-10, 1-12, 4, 9, 10, Y13, as in 

1 1-10 1-12 4 9 10 Y 13 

people, theology, Creole, leopard, dungeon, George, feod, (fyood.) 

r 4labio- 9 or 

S Hngual= 4 LI 13 Y 13 

EU " 9, or £eu French, 13, Y13, as in amateur, rheum, feud. 

12 13 Yl3 

EW " 12, 13, Y13, as in shew, grew, dew. 

1 2 3 4 7-1 

EY " 1, 2, 3, 4, 7-1, as in key, monkey, prey, eyre, eying. 

12 Y13 

EAU " 12, Y13, as in beau, beauty. 
EOI " 10-1, as in burgeois. 

12 13 Y13 

EWE " 11, 12, 13, Y13, as in sewer, n or ) f shore, sewed, brewed, ewe. 

13 j ~" t s °° r > 

l 3 7-1 

EYE " 1, 3, 7-1, as in keyed, surveyed, eyed. 

2 1-3 1-5 7-1-3 

IA " 2, 1-3, 1-5, 7-1-3, 7-1-5, as in parliament, mediate, trivial, hiatus, 

7-1-5 

Iambic. 
IE " 1, 1-1, 1-4, 1-8, 2, 4, 7-1, 7-1-4, as in 

1 1-1 1-4 1.8 2 4 . 7-1 7-1-4 

field, series, veriest, earlier, sieve, friend, die, science. 
10 " 9, 1-10, 1-12, 7-1-10, 7-1-12, as in 

9 110 1-12 7-1-10 7-1-12 

motion, mediocrity, mediocre, Ion-ic, vio-lence. 
OA " 9, 10, 11, 12, 12-5, 12-6, 12-7, as in 

9 10 11 12 12-5 12-6 12-7 

cupboard, f broad, oar, boat, coagulate, oasis, coarct. 
\groat. 

101 12 12.1 12 2 13 

OE " 10-1, 12, 12-1, 12-2, 13, as in oboe, doe, coeval poet, shoe. 



SOUNDS OF THE VOWEL MARKS. 207 

01 have the sound of 3, 9, 10-1, 12-2, 13-2, W7-1, WlO, as in 

3 9 10-1 12-2 13-2 7-1 WlO 

conuoisseur, avoirdupoise, coin, stoic, doing, choir, memoir. 
00 " 9, 11, 12, 12-10, 12-12, 13, as in 

9 11 12 12-10 12-12 13 

blood, door, brooch, zoo-logy, zo-o-logical, f bloom. 

{ book 
OU " 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, as in 

9 10 11 12 13 

fjoiimal, ( bought, four, soul, f through. 
( young, \ cough, ( would. 

7-13 9 10 12 

OW " 7-13, 9, 10, 12, as in now, bellows, knowledge, know. 

10-1 

OY " 10-1, as in boy. 

UA " W8, 5, W5, 7, W7, WlO, as in 

W3 5 W5 7 W7 WlO 

persuade, piquant, quack, guard, guano, f squall. 

(See Note, page 193.) \ squat. 

UE " Wl , 4, W4, 8, W8, 13, 13-4, Y13, Y-13-4, as in 

1 4 W4 8 W8 13 13-4 Y13 Y13-4 

query, guess, quell, guerdon, cuerpo, rue, cruel cue, duel. 
UI " 1, Wl, 2, W2, 7-1, W7-1, W8, 13, 13-2, Y13, Y13-2, as in 

1 Wl 2 W2 7-1 W7-1 W8 13 13.2 Y13 

mosquito, suite, build, quill, guide, quire, squirt, fruit, fruition, suit, 

Y13.2 

aguish. 
UO " 10, WlO, Wll, W12, Y13-12, as in 

10 WlO Wll W12 Y13-12 

liquor, quondam, quorum, quote, duo. 

2 W2 7-1 

UY 2,W2, 7-1, as in plaguy, colloquy, buy. 

8 
WE " 8, as in answer. 

9 II 13 

WO " 9, 11, 13, as in twopence, sword, two. 

7-1 7-1-1 7-1-8 

YE " 7-1, 7-1-1, 7-1-8, as in dye, hyena, dyer. 
LE " 1-1 or Yl, as in minutiae. 

4V Y13 

IEU " 4Y, Y13, as in lieutenant (=levtenant) adieu. 

IEW " Y13, as in view. 

IEWE " Y13, as in viewed. 

IOU " 9, as in cautious. 

OEU " 13, as in manoeuvre. 

OOE " 13, as in wooed. 

7-13-4 12 12-4 

OWE " 7-13-4, 12, 12-4, as in vowel, owed, lowest. 

OWA " 11, as in towards. 

UAY " 1, as in quay. 

UAYE " 1, as in quayed. 

UEA " Wl, as in squeak. 



MS MAKKS OF THE VOWEL SOUNDS. 

EUE " Wl ; as in queen. "*~" 

UEU " 9 (or 4 L-l, eu French) ; as in liqueur. 

UEUE " Y13 ; as in queue. 

1 W10-1 

UOI " 1, W10-1 ; as in turquoise, quoit. 

UOY " W10-1 ; as in buoy. 
UOYE " W10-1 ; as in buoyed. 

Silent Vovcel Marks. 
E is silent in hidden, fasten, soften, &c, and generally when final. 

I " evil, devil, &c. 

" reason, prison, &c. 

AI " Britain. 

UA " victuals. 

UE " plague, barque, harangue, &c. 

MARKS OF THE VOWEL SOUNDS. 

Vowel 

1 is represented by e, i, ae, ae, ee, e'e, ea, ei, eo, ey, eye, ie, uoi ; as in 

eve, fatigue, minutiae, aerie, bee, e'en, eat, conceive, people, key, keyed, 
field, turquoise. 

2 a, e, i, o, u, y, ai, ay, ea, ee, ei, ey, ia, ie, ui, uy ; as in 
cabbage, pretty, ill, women, busy, hymn, mountain, Monday, guineas, 
breeches, forfeit, monkey, parliament, sieve, build, plaguy. 

3 a, ai, ao, an, ay, aye, ea, ei, ey, eye, oi ; as in 

age, aim, gaol, gauge, pay, aye, steak, vein, obey, preyed, connoisseur. 

4 " a, e, u, aa, ae, ai, ay, ea, e'e, ei, eo, ey, ie, ue ; as in 

t fare, t ere, bury, Aaron, f aer, f air f prayer, 

\ many, ( ever, ( Michaelmas, { said, ( says, 

J wear, ne'er, f heir, leopard, eyre, friend, guess. 
( health, ( heifer, 

5 " a, aa, ai ; as in amber, Canaan, raillery. 

6 " a ; as in ask. 

7 " a, e, au, ea, ua ; as in ardour, clerk, haunt, hearty, guardian. 

8 " e(r), i(r), y(r), ea(r), ue(r), we(r) ; as in 

her, firmness, hyrst, earnest, guerdon, answer. 

9 " o, u, eo, io, oa, oi, oo, ou, ow, wo, iou, olo ; as in 

( world ( furnace, dungeon, motion, cupboard, avoirdupoise, blo5d, 

\ done, t ugly, 

f journey, bellows, twopence, cautious, colonel. 

t young. 

10 " a, o, ao, au, aw, awe, eo, oa, ou, ow, as in 

(mil j order, extraordinary (taught, awful, awe, George 

{want (often (laudanum 

(abroad JthSught 

(grSat (hough, knowledge. 

II " o, ew, oa, oo, ou, wo, owa, orps, as in 

ore, sewer, oar, door, four, sword, towards, corps. 



SOUNDS OF THE ARTICULATION MARKS. 



209 



Vowel 

12 o, ao, au, ew, eau, ewe, oa, oe, oo, ou, ow, owe, as in 

old, Pharaoh, hauteur, shew, beau, sewed, oak, foe, brooch, soul, 
crow, crowed. 

13 ' o, u, eu, ew, ewe, oe, ceu, oo, ooe, ou, ue, ui, wo, as in 

jdo fii^e, rheumatism, grew, bietved, shoj, manoeuvre, 
{wolf U,uU 

j bloom, wooed J through, rue, fruit two. 
|boDk I would. 

Diphthong 

7-1 is represented by i, y, ai, ay, ei, ey, eye, ie, ui, uy, ye ; as in 
isle, by, naivete, ay, height, eying, eye, lie, guide, buy, dye. 
7-13 " o, ou, ow ; as in accomptant, thou, bow. 
10-1 " oe, oi, oy, eoi ; as in oboe, coin, boy, burgeois. 



SOUNDS OF THE ARTICULATION MARKS. 

B is sounded as in babe. 

s k tsh fsh 

C " cell, cake, vermicelli, special 



sacrifice, (verb). 

t <3zh 

deed, stopped, soldier, 
feoff, of. 

dzh zh 

gig, gem, rouge, 
he, hay, high, hoe, hue, &c. 
(the vowel formation modify- 
ing unvocalized breath,) and 

th 
eighth. 

dzh j zh 

jay, hallelujah, jambeaux. 
kick. 

r 

lull, colonel, 
maim. 

ng m 

noon, an-ger, Banff. 

pop. 

k 

queen, 
rare. 

z sh zh 

this, as, sugar, lesion. 

sh zh 

tight, action, transition. 

vivid. 

wag, (this letter is also a 

vowel mark. 

ks gz z 

expect, exist, xystus. 

yard, (this letter is also a 

vowel mark.) 



zh 



Z is sounded as in zeal, azure. 

b bb 

bb " clubbist, club-book. 

d bd 

bd " bdellium, obdurate. 

t bt 
bt " debt, subtend. 

k ks 

cc " tobacco, accede. 

k 
cch " Bacchus. 

tsh k 

ch " chapter, character, 
dzh 
sandwich. • 

m km 

drachm, drachma. 

sh ks 

fuchsia, stomachs. 

t 
vacht. 

k 
back. 

b k b 

Cockburn, cock-boat. 

blackguard. 



chm 

chs 

cht 

ck 

ckb 

ckg 

cq 

ct 

cz 

dd 

ddh 



acquire. 

t ksh kt 
indict, diction, active. 

z 

Czar. 

d dd 

haddock, head-dress. 

d 

Buddhist. 

dzh dg 

judgment, Edgar. 



sh 

chaise, 



Dd 



210 



SOUNDS OF THE ARTICULATION MARKS, 



a dn 

dn sounded as in Wednesday, madness. 

z de 

ds " Windsor, winds. 

f f f 

ff " ruffle, half-fee. 

f ft 

ft " soften, softer. 

P k g f 

gh ' hiccough, hough, ghost,laugh. 

ght " bought. 

1 gJ 
gl seraglio, ugly. 

m gm 

gm ' phlegm, phlegmatic. 

n gn 

gn " gnomon, signet. 

hn " John. 

n 
kn " know 

d l id 

\d ' would, guildford, builder. 

If " half, self. 

lfp " halfpenny, 

k lk 

Ik " walk, elk. 

l n 

H ' falling, soulless. 

m lm 

lm ' psalm, elm, 

l In 
In " kiln, fulness. 

lka 

lx " calx. 

m mb 

mb " dumb, rhumb. 

m 

ram " hammer. 

m u mu 

ran ' hymn, mnemonics, amnesty. 

m n mp 

rap Campbell, compter, lamp. 

ng nd 

nd " handkerchief, hand. 

ngg n-g odzh 

ng " sing, single, ingraft, fringes. 

n nn 

nn ' minnow, meanness. 

b pb 

pb ' cupboard, cupbearer. 

v f p 

ph " nephew, philter, diphthong, 
p-b 
loophole, 
t th 

phth " phthisical, apophthegm, 

pth 
triphthong, 
n pa 

P 11 pneumatics, cheapness. 

P PP 

Pp supple, soap-pan. 



pph sounded as in sapphire. 

s pa 

ps " psalm, perhaps. 

sh psh 

psh " pshaw, upshot. 

t pt 
pt " receipt, apt. 

kw k 

qu " quake, quay. 

r rh 

rh " rhetoric, perhaps. 

r r r 

rr " error, poor-rates. 

r 

rrh " catarrh. 

is rsb rz 

rs " person, Persian, bars, 
r rt 

rt " mortgage, heart. 

k 8 Z 

sc " viscount, science, discern, 

sb sk 

conscience, sceptic. 

s sb stsh 

sch " schism, schedule, mischief, 

sk 

school. 

sh z sh 

sh " shape, dishonour, mishap. 

l si 
si " isle, asleep. 

n sn 

sn " puisne, (pr.-pmiy,) snare. 

8 ss z sb 

ss " loss, missent. scissor?, mission, 

zh 

abscission. 

8 8t 

castle, history. 

a str 

mistress, (colloq.missis) stress. 



st 
str 
sv 
sw 

tb 
th 

tl 

tt 

Ufa 
tw 
fczs 



Grosvenor. 

8 SW ZW 

sword, sward, Boswell, 

z 

Chiswick. 

b tb 

hautboy, potboy. 

th t 

thigh, thy, pothouse, thyme, 

ttn 
eighth. 

l tl 

bristly, ghastly. 

t t t 

hatter, boot-tree. 

th 
Matthew. 

t tw 
two, twain. 

8 

britzska. 
h 
what, who. 



SILENT ARTICULATION MARKS. ill 



1 
wl sounded as in knowledge. 


V 

zv sounded as in rendezvous. 

z tz 

zz " buzzing, mezzotint. 


i 
wr " write. 


s z 

ws " bellows, bellows (verb). 





SILENT ARTICULATION MARKS. 

Or various ways of representing nothing. 
B is silent in bdellium, dumb, debt. 

C science, Czar, muscle, black, acquiesce, indict, schedule. 

D " Wednesday, handkerchief. 
F " halfpenny. 

G " bagnio, seraglio, phlegm. 

H heir, thyme, rheum, khan, John, ghastly, diphthong, character. 

K " know, wreck. 
L alms, salmon, would, half. 

M M mnemonics. 
N " hymn, kiln. 
P cupboard, ptarmigan, pneumatics, psalm, bumpkin, assumption, 

pshaw. 
S " demesne, isle, viscount, chamois. 

T fasten, soften, trait, mortgage, hautboy, Matthew. 

W whole, who, sword, two, write, knowledge ; and when final. 

Y when final after a vowel. 

Z rendezvous. 

Double Letters are generally sounded as one ; as in cannon, better, mis- 
sile, pepper, hammer, beckon, acquire, 8$c. One, therefore, is silent. 
Ch is silent in drachm, yacht, bacchanal, schism. 



Ck 


?? 


blackguard. 


Dh 


i? 


buddhist. 


Gh 


» 


thought. 


Ph 


»» 


phthisical, apophthegm. 


Rh 


5» 


catarrh. 


Tr 


>J 


mistress (colloquial). 


Tz 


1? 


britzska. 



MARKS OF THE ARTICULATIONS. 

The figures refer to the Scheme of English Articulations (page 54.) 

Articulation 

1 is represented by c, k, q, cc, ch, ck, gh, ke, kh, cqu, que, ceh, qu, cq, Ik ; 

as in can, kill, quit, account, character, neck, hough, lake, khan, 
lacquer, pique, Bacchic, quay, acquire, walk. 

2 " g, gg, gh, gue, ckg ; as in leg, egg, ghost, plague, blackguard. 

3 " n, nd, ng, ngue ; as in ink, handkerchief, song, tongu3. 

4 " h : as in hue. 

5 - „ I, j, .,„ ■•*;{&.• gS,, '*^'. -, ,vo. 



212 MARKS OF THE ARTICULATIONS. 

Articulation 

6 is represented by c, s, t, ch, chs, sc, sh, ss, sob, psh ; as in ocean, tension, 

nation, chaise, fuchsia, conscience, shape, omission, schedule, pshaw. 

7 " gi ge, s, ss, t, z, j ; as in giraffe, rouge, leisure, abscission, transition, 

azure, jambeaux. 

8 " rr ; as in — " horrible, most horrible I" 

9 " r, rh, rr, rh ; as in race, rhubarb, mirror, myrrhine. 

10 " 1, le, 11, In, si, sle, tie, gl ; as in late, tale, all, kiln, island, isle, 

thistle, seraglio. 

11 " t, te, th, tt, bt, ct, cht, pt, ght, phth, ed ; as in at, latp, thyme, 

cottage, debtor, indictment, yacht, ptarmigan, sight, phthisis, stopped. 

12 " d, de, dd, bd, ddh, Id; as in bad, bade, add, bdellium, buddhism, 

would. 

13 " n, ne, nn, dn, gn, hn, kn, mn, sn, sne, mp ; as in dun, done, inn, 

Wednesday, sign, John, know, mnemonics, puisne, demesne, compter. 

14 " c, ce, s, sc, se, ss, ps, tzs ; as in cell, ace, gas, scent, base, loss, 

psalm, britzska. 

15 " ce, cz, s, se, sc, sh, ss, z, ze, zz, ds, x ; as in sacrifice, (v.) Czarina, 

as, ease, discern, dishonour, scissors, zeal, baize, buzz, Windsor, xystus. 

16 " h, th, tth, phth ; as in eighth, thing, Matthew, apophthegm. 

17 " th, the ; as in this, breathe. 

18 " f, fe, ff, gh, ph, pph, phe, ft, If; as in leaf, safe, stiff, laugh, physic, 

sapphire, ouphe, soften, half. 

19 " v, ve, f, ph, zv ; as in vain, save, of, nephew, rendezvous. 

20 " wh ; as in what. 

21 " w, o, u ; as in way, one, quick — persuade. 

22 " p, pe, pp, ph, gh, lfp ; as in pay, tape, tippet, ophthalmia, hiccough, 

halfpenny. 

23 " b, be, bb, pb ; as in crab, glebe, ebb, cupboard. 

24 " m, mb, me, mm, mn, chm, gm, lm, sme ; as in aim, lamb, same, 

common, condemn, drachm, paradigm, palm, disme. 
To these we may add the common combinations ks-gz, alphabetically repre- 
sented by a;; and tsh-dzh, the latter alphabetically represented by j ; the former 
being commonly denoted by ch. 

1-14 are represented by x, xc, xe, cc, chs, ks, cks, ques ; as in ox, except, 

axe, accept, stomachs, works, wrecks, barques. 
2-15 " x, gs, ggs ; as in exalt, legs, eggs. 
11-6 " c, ch, tch ; as in vermicelli, chair, watch. 
12-7 " d, dg, dge, g, ge, Qg y j, ch ; as in soldier, judgment, judge, gem, 
range, exaggerate, jay, sandwich. 



NOTATION OF THE ELEMENTS OF SPEECH. 
It would really be a'matter of but little difficulty to reconstruct 
our alphabet, and furnish it with invariable marks for every ap- 
preciable variety of vocal and articulate sound. So few as 12 



NOTATION OF THE ELEMENTS OF SPEECH. 213 

radical letters might be made to represent all the English articu- 
lations. Thus : we have 12 forms of articulative action, most 
of which do, and all of which may, modify both voice and breath; 
so producing 24 elements of speech. Let some uniform change 
to represent breath and voice be made on each of the 12 charac- 
ters, and these 24 varieties of articulate sound may be not only 
fully represented, but with a natural analogy and consistency, 
which would explain to the eye their organic relations. 

A further uniform change made on those letters which have a 
nasal correspondent would complete the scheme, and, with perfect 
analogy between marks and sounds, exhibit, by 12 radical letters, 
every articulation in our language. 

Some equally simple and analogical notation might be arranged 
for the vowels, on the principle of their sequence, so that a really 
Scientific Alphabet could be easily constructed. 

A system of Phonotypes, or letters representing sounds, has re- 
cently been constructed by the Author of the Phonographic method 
of short-hand writing. In this generally excellent typography, 
several works have been published ; and from the great similarity of 
the characters to those in ordinary use, the " phonotypic"page is 
quite readable after a mere glance at the alphabet, by those who can 
read the common printing. But this system of letters, though a 
great improvement on our ordinary alphabet, does not carry im- 
provement beyond supplying deficient letters, and discarding re- 
dundant ones. If ever a change in our orthography should be 
generally and authoritatively made, we should like to see it based 
on an alphabet as perfect a -picture of our sounds as science and 
ingenuity could produce. We have shown a principle by means 
of which the formation of such an alphabet would be an easy 
matter. 

Mr Pitman's phonographic scheme of marks is much more 
scientific than the alphabet of iphonotypes ; but even the former 
is, — for the purposes of accurate notation, — far short of what a 
more intimate knowledge of the vocal mechanisms should have 
made it. In a system of writing by sound, there must be a very 
accurate appreciation of sound, and a faultless principiation of 
language. In both these respects, this phonographic system is 
somewhat defective. 

We propose to present the reader with the elements of a new 
system of phonography, based on the analysis of speech detailed 
in the preceding pages. Our object, in the construction of this 



214 NOTATION OF THE ELEMENTS OF SPEECH. 

scheme of writing, has not been to produce a rival system for the 
sake of rivalry, but to furnish a means of fixing in the memory of 
our students the fundamental principles of speech. We use it 
mnemonically ; and we commend its study, on the same principle, 
to the reader. 

But we must, in justice, point out what we conceive to be the 
defects of Mr Pitman's Phonography, in order to show that, for 
our purpose, a new system was really necessary. This we do the 
rather that it gives opportunity for noticing some general errors 
of elementary classification, more fully than could have been ap- 
propriately done in any other section. 

The vowels are classed on a most erroneous theory, — i(ll) being reckoned 
the short sound of ee(\) ; e(ll) the short sound of a(le), a(m) the short sound 
of a(lms) ; and w(p) the short sound of o(pe). True phonography cannot re- 
cognise such longs and shorts. Quantity must have reference only to identical 
qualities of sound. But it is maintained by the author of this system that these 
pairs of vowels, are " of the same quality, differing only in length."" This of 
course is a question to be decided by the ear ; and any competent ear will at 
once decide it by the experiment recommended by Mr Pitman,* — but with a 
very different result. When we read, however, that the vowels e, a, ah, au, o, oo. 
with "the sound uh heard in the French le ne, &c," are, "all the single vowels 
that are to be found in any language," we may justly suspect a want of auri- 
cular aptitude on the part of the writer, as well as ignorance of the principles of 
vowel mechanism. f Either such must be the case, or else we have been elabor- 
ating a theory of shadows, — u airy nothings," and have been grossly abused 
by our ears into the belief that our own experiments had produced upwards 

* " There is a difficulty in convincing some persons that the vowel in seek 
is of the same quality as that in sick, differing only in length ; and so with all 
the long and short vowels as here placed ; but particularly is this difficulty felt 
with No. 5, (as in " cote, cut.") They may, however, have audible proof that 
it is so, by pronouncing the words in the first column, (seek, pate, psalm, stalk, 
cote, fool, J quickly, and they will hear the words of the second column, (sick, 
pet, sam, stock, cut,fuH;) also if the words in the second column are spoken 
in a slow drawling tone, the words in the first column will be heard : thus, 
seek, quickly spoken, will become sick, and if pet be uttered slowly, pate will be 
produced ; and so with all the others." — Pitman's Phonography, 8vo. 1840, 
p. 23. Reader, if you feel that you have an ear, try this experiment ! 

t In a recent, and certainly amended Edition of the work from which we have 
quoted in the note, we find that the theory so pertinaciously laid down, has 
been given up as erroneous. The experiment seems to have been tried by 
acuter ears than those of its suggester. We read now : — 

" In all cases except the 4th and Cth, j a J!' wooe y the position for the 

short vowel is slightly different from the position required for the corresponding 
long vowel." — Manual of Phonography, 1848. 



NOTATION OF THE ELEMENTS OF SPEECH. 215 

of 20 varieties of vowel sound, cognisable as elements of existing languages 
and dialects. 

A phonographic writer should be able to delineate on his page the very 
peculiarities of a speaker's pronunciation ; but this system does not enable him 
to express even those manifest differences that exist between the utterance of a 
correct English speaker and the vernacular English of a Scotchman. He must, 
for instance, write alike their different pronunciations of such words as fair, 
there, * more, dour, &c. He has no means of noting a difference between the 
sounds in er and wr,— which is unquestionably a distinctive elegance in polite 
English utterance, — and so must write pervade and jmrveyed alike,(wrtue vur- 
tue, and sir sur : and he has no choice between a(m) and a(lms), for writing 
the intermediate vowel heard in ask, fast, &c. 

The plan of writing long vowels by heavy marks, and short vowels by light 
ones, is good ; but we must have a character independent of that of quantity for 
every variety of vowel formation. A quantitative distinction is only necessary 
for two vowels in our language. 

But if there were no more serious objections to this Phonographic system 
than its errors in vowel-theory and representation, these would hardly afford 
sufficient reason for the construction of a new system, because the use of a 
merely general vowel mark to show where a vowel occurs rather than precisely 
what vowel it is, would suffice for ordinary short-hand notation to those who 
are acquainted with the language which they write. But the articulations also are 
arranged on false principles ; and errors in their representation are much more 
serious than those in the scheme of vowel -marks. 

The articulations are classed under the four heads of mutes, semivowels, 
liquids, and nasals. In the first class are included with the breath letters P, 
T, K, their voice correspondents B, D, G, and also the combinations Ch=tsh, and 
J=dzh. If these letters are mutes — our speech must be, nearly half of it, mere 
dumb show. The semi-vowel category includes with the vocal elements V, 
Th(is), Z, Zh, their breath correspondents F, Th(in), S, Sh. If the former set 
were entitled to the name "semi- vowel," — which they are not — the latter could 
not certainly claim anything more than that of u demi-se?ni-vowels"— or per- 
haps " semi-demi-semi-vowels" terms that would be fully as expressive of the 
real qualities of the sounds as the one appropriated to them. " What's in a 
name ?" may well be asked, if names with nothing in them serve the purposes of 
nomenclature. The class " liquids" contains only L and R ; the letters M, N, 
and NG, which are also liquids, if that name expresses anything, being separately 
classed as simply "nasals." 

The " mutes" and " semi-vowels " are subdivided into " sharps " and 
"flats," — terms equally expressive with those attached to the leading divisions ; 
— but the student is not told to which of these classes the " liquids" and 

* The difference between the sound of a, as in mate and mare, is recognised, 
but not provided for, in a note (p. 39) in the last quoted edition of the Manual 
of Phonography. 



216 NOTATION OF THE ELEMENTS OF SPEECH. 

" nasals" belong. He should of course discover this from the character by 
which he is to represent these sounds. But this will mislead him ; for the ex- 
cellent principle of distinction between breath and voice letters, which is the best 
and newest point in this phonographio system, is not consistently applied to the 
elements of the last two classes. The " liquids 1 ' and " nasals" are all voice 
letter (" flats") ; yet only one of them, — namely, ng, is written in the voice 
character. N and ng are represented by the same mark, — the former thin (the 
sharp notation), the latter thick (the flat notation), so that the scheme of arti- 
culate symbols misinforms the eye that as B is to P, V to F, Z to 8, &c, so is 
ng to N ! This is one of the errors resulting from an arbitrary arrangement of 
marks, and the neglect of a natural principle of association. 

One of the most serious errors in Pitman's Phonography, both as regards its 
fundamental principiation of speech, and its stenographic simplicity, remains to 
be noticed. 

The articulative function of the letters Y and W is not recognised. These 
elements are considered to be always vowels — vowels only. The result is, that 
this lack of characters to represent two articulations has to be supplied, and is 
supplied, by no less than 40 symbols, to denote their combinations with different 
vowels. The cumbersome result of such a theory, one would have expected to 
operate to its rejection, even were it more correct ; but it is clearly erroneous. 
Let its author, and all who think with him in this matter, test it in the words 
ye and woo, which, according to this theory, are nothing else than the repeated 
vowel ee ee and oo oo. Experiment will prove, that the most rapid utterance 
of two ee's, without any intermediate action of the tongue, will never produce 
the word ye ; and that without a similar action of the lips between the two oo's, 
the word woo cannot possibly be sounded. If, then, ye and woo cannot be pro- 
nounced with the mouth steadily maintained in the vowel positions ee and oo, 
the initial elements of the words are not vowels but articulations. 

The absence of an articulative Y leads to the writing of vulgarisms, and the 
corruption of utterance, in such words as future, nature, education, <Sfc, which 
are written with tsh and dzh, instead of ty and dy ; thus, " f uchr," " ej uka- 
shn," &c. Colloquial carelessness does certainly convert the nice articula- 
tions ty and dy into the more slovenly tsh and dzh ; but the former are un- 
doubtedly the elements heard in the correct utterance of this class of words ; 
and surely the best pronunciation should always — unless for imitative purposes 
— be reflected in writing. 

As there is no articulation w in this system, there is of course no wh ; and 
this breath articulation is considered to be identical in sound with the word 
w Jio=hw=hoo. Thus, the sentence, " I saiv the man whet the knife" is 
phonographically (?) perverted into the rather startling assertion, " i" saiv the 
man who ate the knife." Let the most glib upholder of this theory — for it 
is not confined to the system under review— pronounce the latter sentence as 
rapidly as he can, and see if he will ever make it express the former. Yet it 
should do so by the mere accident of abruptness, if the theory were correct. 



NOTATION OF THE ELEMENTS OF SPEECH. 217 

We should not have adverted to the errors in this generally 
excellent system, or noticed it in any terms except of commen- 
dation, but for the influence which we conceive it may exert, not 
only on writing, but on speech ; the good, if correct ; the injury — 
so far as speech is concerned,— if incorrect in its articulative bases. 

We should be glad to see a system of writing sounds popularly 
studied, and brought into general use, were it only for the benefit 
that must result to popular articulation. We look upon Pho- 
nography as a most valuable auxiliary in teaching the Art of 
Speech ; and our object in treating of it in this work is, that we 
may, by its aid, advance popular knowledge on the subject of 
speech. We should anticipate great good, — not to articulation 
alone, but to the general interests of language and education, — 
if every boy in our schools were a phonographer. He would then 
be capable of correctly analyzing speech ; a process which, in the 
present state of knowledge that prevails on this subject, we have 
often seen baffle the efforts of older and wiser linguists, even in 
the most simple of our verbal combinations. 

The following are the Principles on which we have constructed 
our Phonographic Scheme. The attentive perusal of them will 
enable any person, almost at once, to use our 

ALPHABET OF ARTICULATIONS. 

ORGANS EMPLOYED. 

T. All articulations of the lips are written in a slanting direc- 
tion from right tc left. 

II. All articulations of the back or root of the tongue are writ- 
ten slantingly from left to right. 

III. All articulations of the point of the tongue acting upwards, 
are written perpendicularly. 

IV. The sibilant and lisping sounds, in forming which the tongue 
lies nearly horizontal, are written horizontally. 

MODES OF ACTION. 

V. All Obstructive articulations, — i.e. those formed by perfect 
contact of the organs — (the First Mode of Action) — are represented 
by straight lines. 

VI. Nasal quality is denoted by a ring; and, as the Nasals are 
orally obstructive by the same articulative mechanisms as the pre- 
ceding elements, the nostril-ring is written with a short straight 
mark, which, by its line of direction, shows the obstructive forma- 
tion, of which the ring denotes the nasal correspondent. 

e e 



218 



NOTATION OF THE ELEMENTS OF SPEECH. 



VII. All Continuous articulations are represented by curve lines ; 
those formed by organic approximation (the Second Mode of Ac- 
tion) being curved concavely to the line of direction ; and those 
formed by partial contact (the Third Motion of Action) convexly* 

VIII. The Aspiration H is represented by a straight horizon- 
tal line. "*■--- 

BREATH AND VOICE DISTINCTION. 

IX. All Breath Articulations are written by thin, light mark- 
ings ; and Voice Articulations by relatively thick, dark lines. 

By these principles, all the articulative correspondencies are 
distinctly manifested to the eye. The following is a complete 
Table of the English Articulations thus represented. 

Back of Tongue. Point of Tongue. Lips. 




Afeef* 



SIBILANTS. 



Second Mode. (3) 
sh. zh. s. 



Third Mode. 
Thfin.) Th(is.) 



Aspiration (H) 

(1.) These spaces indicate the position and formation of articulations which 
do not occur in English ; namely, the German or Scotch cA, with its voice cor- 
respondent ; and the breath correlatives of R and L,=the Eh and LI of the 
Welsh language. 

(2.) There being no articulation of the 3rd mode by the back of the tongue, 
this curve is (arbitrarily) appropriated to Y, rather than a reduced form of the 
approximation curve ; that the seheme may be unambiguously adapted for 
writing any language containing the omitted articulations. 

(3.) Sh and S being both articulations of the 2nd mode, we use the same 
curve for them, but reduced to half-size for the former, which is very con- 
venient, on account of its frequent occurrence in combinations. 



* The Vibratory mode of action, (see 
zigzag line. 



page 50), may be represented by a 



NOTATION OF THE ELEMENTS OF SPEECH. 



219 



Articulate Combinations. 

A novel and important feature in our phonographic notation, 
consists in distinguishing by the mode of writing, articulate com- 
binations from the same letters when separated by vowels, — as pi 
in place, from p I in palace ; tsh in chew, from t shin tissue; str in 
string, from st r in stirring ; rt in liberty, from r t in liberate ; Id 
in sold, from I d in solid, &c. This principle gives certain and 
easy legibility to the writing, and renders the use of vowel marks, 
except for initial and final vowels, almost unnecessary. When no 
vowel intervenes between two articulations, this is shown by writ- 
ing them only half-size ; or, if the combination is initial or final, 
by contracting in the former case, the first element, and in the 
latter, the last, to a mere indication of its nature and direction. 

Thus the writing unmistakably distinguishes, without the aid of 
vowels, the words 

Chew, . . 1— and U^ . ... Tissue. 




String, . 


• * 


Gamble, . 


> 


Sold, . 


1 



Billet. 

Parrot. 

Stirring. 

Gambol. 
Solid. 



Liberty, 



i/l 



Liberate. 



Vowel Notation. 
The Sixteen English Vowels and Diphthongs might be repre- 
sented by an arrangement of five simple marks, — using each for 
three sounds by placing it at the top, middle, or bottom of the 
articulation-mark ; but, on account of the frequent dispensability 
of vowel-marks in short -hand- writing, and the difficulty of pre- 
serving three positions distinct on short characters, we prefer using 



220 



NOTATION OF THE ELEMENTS OF SFEECH. 



eight vowel-marks, and placing each at the top and bottom, or be- 
ginning and end, of the articulation-mark to denote two sounds. 



ee(\) 


- 


r ( P ) M (ii) 

1 (P)oo(l) 


i(ll) 


- 


- o(ld) 


«(le) 


- 


o(re) 


<«) 


- 


j o(n) 


a(sk) 


a (1ms) 

7 


" u(p) 
(s)ir 



Vowel 1. 

2. 

3. 

4. 

5. 

6. 
Diphthongs, 7-1, (i(sle). 7-13, (ow(l). 10-1, (oi(l). 



13. Vowel. 
12. ... -, 
11. ... 
10. ... 
9. ... 



A difference in the vowel-mark to indicate long or short quan- 
tity, can never be necessary, except for the 10th and 13th vowels ; 
as the 2nd and 5th are always short ; the 1 st, 3rd, 6th, 7th, 8th, 
11th, and 12th always long ; and the 4th and 9th always short 
except when preceding R final or followed by an articulation. In 
the scheme, the 10th and 13th vowels are marked with the quan- 
titative distinction. 

A vowel between two articulations may be written either after 
the first or before the second, as may be most convenient. Vowels 
to be pronounced before the articulation are written to the left of 
perpendicular or sloping marks, or above horizontal characters ; 
and to be uttered after the articulation, they must be placed to the 
right of the former, or below the latter. 



Thus far the scheme is complete for the purposes of a correct 
notation of speech; to adapt the system for rapid short-hand- writ- 
ing, various principles of contraction must be made use of. But 
our object in introducing Phonography in this work being merely 
to furnish a means of accurately noting sounds, and of fixing, in 
the memory of those who study our analysis of speech, its funda- 
mental principles, we cannot here enter upon the stenographic ap- 
plication of the system. 

We may state, generally, that our contractions do not consist 
in the arbitrary adoption of new characters, but in simple and 
natural abbreviations of the ordinary'writing ; chiefly, however, 



NOTATION OF THE ELEMENTS OF SPEECH. 221 

in a principle of verbal arrangement, which gives peculiar facility 
to the reading, and lays prominently before the eye the important 
words in each sentence with a highly rhetorical effect, while, at 
the same time, it gives great beauty to the appearance of the writ- 
ten page. We cluster the particles and subordinate words around 
the leading words of the sentence, as exemplified in the following 
arrangement of 

THE LORD'S PRAYER. 

which be 

art done 

Our in thy thy thy on 

Father Heaven, hallowed name ; kingdom come, will earth as 

be 

it 
is 
in this our our we 

Heaven : Give day daily bread ; and forgive trespasses as forgive 

us us them 

thine 
is 
that into from the 

trespass and lead temptation ; but deliver evil, for kingdom, and 

• against us us 

us ; not 

the the Jor 

power, and glory, ever and ever. Amen. 

The following are Examples, 1st, of the full notation, according 
to the above principles ; and, 2nd, of the Steno- Phonographic 
development of the system.* 

Full Notation. 

_ ^/-fT C^) ^A r VXr^l , - ^ 
/sMl",.^ ^ l~ /f 

" Ask, and it shall be given you ; seek, and ye shall find ; knock, and 
it shall be opened unto you : for every one that asketh receiveth, and he 
that seeketh findeth, and to him that knocketh it shall be opened." 

The same in " Steno-Phonography." 

vL •_ 

* See " Steno-Phonography," — a Practical Manual, to be shortly published. 



222 ACCENT. 



PART FOURTH. 



ACCENT, RHYTHM, AND THE GROUPING OF WORDS. 

ACCENT. 

Every word of more than one syllable, has what is called an ac- 
cent, — that is, a superior degree of prominence, by stress or in- 
flexion, — on one of its syllables. Without accent, speech would 
be drawling, monotonous, and unemphatic. Accent ties syllables 
into words, and enables the ear to comprehend at once the bound- 
aries of each verbal utterance. Accent, besides being thus a 
source of much variety, gives us a simple means of increasing our 
stock of words, and enhancing their utility. By its aid, for in- 
stance, we can make two syllables serve for four purposes ; three 
syllables might serve for six, four for eight, &c. Thus, the 
syllables man and kind, separately uttered, are two words ; united 
by the accentual tie, they form the word mankind, as distinguished 
from ivomankind, and mankind, the whole human race. In this way, 
by placing the accent alternately on the first, second, third, or 
fourth syllable, the same set of sounds might be varied in their 
application to the expression of many of the nicer distinctions of 
meaning, which are at present confounded under one invariable 
term. This is a means of expressiveness, but little employed, yet 
it might be made use of to a considerable extent, especially in 
scientific and philosophical terminology, with much advantage to 
accuracy.* Such accentual change is common on dissyllables in 

* In Smart's Dictionary, we find the word " perfunctory" marked with the 
primary accent on the first syllable, and the secondary on the third ,=per"func- 
to'ry ; — its meaning being * done with the sole view of getting through, regard- 
less how done ; slight, careless, negligent :" and in a note, the author remarks, 
— " The original of this word is a Latin adverb, of which the verb, the parti- 
ciple, and the other related words have just the contrary meaning ; so that if 
it had been derived from them instead of the adverb, it would have signified 
completely done, thoroughly performed, in which case its accentuation 
would have been perfunc'tory ; but, formed as it is by abbreviation from 
per'functo"ri-e, its proper accentuation is deemed to be that assigned to it above." 



ACCENT. 



223 



English, as a distinction between nouns and verbs of the same or- 
thography. The following list contains the principal words which 
undergo this change. The nouns have the higher accent, the 
verbs the lower. 



ab'ject 


to abject' 


es'say 


to essay 


ab'sent 


" absent' 


es'cort 


" escort' 


ab'stract 


" abstract' 


ex'ile 


" exile' 


ac'cent 


" accent' 


ex'port 


" export' 


affix 


" affix' 


ex' tract 


" extract' 


as'sign 


" assign' 


fer'ment 


" ferment' 


attribute 


•* attrib'ute 


fore'taste 


" foretaste' 


aug'ment 


" augment' 


fre'quent 


" frequent' 


colleague 


" colleague' 


im'pact 


" impact' 


collect 


" collect' 


import 


" import' 


com'pact 


" compact' 


im'press 


" impress' 


com'plot 


" complot' 


in'cence 


" incense' 


com'pound 


" compound' 


in'crease 


" increase' 


con'cert 


" concert' 


inlay 


" inlay' 


con'crete 


" concrete' 


in'sult 


" insult' 


con'duct 


w conduct' 


ob'ject 


" object' 


con'fine 


" confine' 


per 'fume 


" perfume' 


con'flict 


" conflict' 


per'mit 


" permit' 


con'serve 


" conserve' 


pre'fix 


" prefix' 


con'sort 


" consort' 


premise 


" premise' 


con' test 


" contest' 


pres'age 


" presage' 


con'text 


" context' 


pres'ent 


" present' 


con'tract 


" contract' 


proc'eeds 


he proceeds' 


con'trast 


" contrast' 


prod'uce 


to produce' 


con'vent 


" convent' 


proj'ect 


" project' 


con'verse 


" converse' 


prot'est 


" protest' 


con'vert 


" convert' 


reb'el 


« rebel' 


con'vict 


M convict' 


rec'ord 


" record' 


con'voy 


" convoy' 


refuse 


" refuse' 


des'cant 


" descant' 


re'tail 


" retail' 


des'ert 


" desert' 


sub'ject 


" subject' 


de'tail 


" detail' 


sur'vey 


" survey' 


di'gest 


" digest' 


tor'ment 


u torment' 


dis'cord 


" discord' 


trans'fer 


" transfer' 


dis'count 


H discount' 


trans'port 


" transport' 



224 



ACCENT. 



Li words of three or more syllables, when the accent falls on 
the third, there is also an accent, but of secondary force, on the 
first syllable. If the primary accent is on the fourth syllable, the 
secondary accent may be either on the first or second ; if there 
are four syllables before the primary accent, there will be either 
a secondary accent on the second syllable, or two secondaries — 
namely, on the first and third ; and if there are five syllables 
before the primarily accented one, there must be two secondary 
accents, but they may be arranged in three different ways ; either 
on the first and third, first and fourth, or on the second and 
fourth syllables. 

The following are Examples of each of these classes of Second- 
arily Accented Words. 
Primary accent on the third syllable, and secondary on the first. 

Trisyllables. 
acquiesce entertain overcome 

appertain immature pamphleteer 

apprehend incommode reannex 

cannonade incorrect recollect 

disincline indiscreet serenade 

disobey insecure superfine 

dispossess intercede understand 

disregard overgrown violin 

Quadrisyllables. 
abdication fundamental oriental 

allegoric imperfection panegyric 

benefactor inclination philosophic 

celebration inconsistent redeliver 

coexistence independent sacerdotal 

detrimental intermittent sibilation 

disappointed manufacture theologic 

discontented misadventure unacquainted 

efficacious notwithstanding whomsoever 

Polysyllables. 
academical controvertible liberality 

acrimonious diametrical multitudinous 

anatomical elementary nonconformity 

bacchanalian emblematical opportunity 

categorical homogeneous perpendicular 

ceremonial ignominious recapitulate 

consentaneous juvenility simultaneous 



ACCENT, 



225 



Polly syllables — continued. 



testimonial 


contumeliousness 


inconsiderableness 


unattainable 


diametrically 


mathematically 


volubility 


disagreeablenes 


philosophically 


alphabetically 


disingenuousness 


reconcileableness 


analytically 


elementarily 


satisfactoriness 


astronomically 


geometrically 


superciliousness 


atlieistically 


hypothetically 


supernumerary 


contradictorily 


incommunicable 


theologically 


Primary accent 


on the fourth syllable 
First. 


and secondary on the 


misunderstand 


epigrammatic 


antimonarchical 


circumvallation 


lubrification 


extraparochial 


clarification 


hieroglyphic 


generalissimo 


contradistinguish 


mathematician 


genealogical 


animadvert 


ramification 


hypochondriacal 


legerdemain 


recommendation 


Mediterranean 


multiplicand 


signification 


plenipotentiary 


nevertheless 


specification 


superabundantly 


superabound 


versification 


individuity 


superintend 


violoncello 


interposition 


ultra-marine 


abecedarian 

Second. 


iutroreception 


abomination 


experimental 


perambulation 


articulation 


gesticulation 


reduplication 


concatenation 


intimidation 


reiteration 


enthusiastic 


reverberation 


solicitation 


subordination 


experimentally 


indelibility 


confederation 


extemporaneous 


indoctrination 


vociferation 


extensibility 


inefficacious 


corruptibility 


impossibility 


intelligential 


defectibility 


materiality 


interpolation 


disadvantageously 


inflexibility 


interpretation 


dissimilarity 


refrangibility 


invalitudinary 


ecclesiastical 


imperspicuity 


irreprehensibleness 


encyclopedia 


incorporeity 


uncompromising 

Ff 



226 



ACCENT. 



Primary accent on the fifth syllable, and secondary on the 



disqualification 

diversification 

exemplification 

personification 

demoralization 



alcoholization 

antipestilential 

latitudinarian 

circumnavigation 

circumstantiality 

contraregularity 

discontinuation 



Second. 
impenetrability 
illachrymability 
incorrigibility 
indissolubility 
ineligibility 

First and Third. 
incombustibility 
incompatibility 
indivisibility 
incompressibility 
incorruptibility 
indestructibility 
indetermination 



insuperability 

interminability 

inviolability 

irreparability 

irrefragability 

insusceptibility 

intellectuality 

interfoliaceous 

intransmissibility 

ipecacuanha 

isoperimetrical 

immateriality 



Primary accent on the sixth syllable, and secondary on the 

First and third. 

incommunicability incoagulability incommensurability 



First and fourth. 
incontrovertibility irreconciliation 
intercolumniation intercommunication 



incomprehensibility 
incircumscriptibility 

When three or more syllables follow the accent, there sometimes 
is, but more frequently is not, a secondary accent on one of them. 
When there is, it generally falls on the second syllable, but some- 
times on the third after the primary accent. The following are 
a few instances : — 

Secondary accent on the second syllable after the primary. 
aV'dica'tive gentlewoman opinionativeness 

accessoriness homicidal penetrative 

calculatory indicatory regeneratory 

disinterestedness nominator perfunctory 

Secondary accent on the third syllable after the primary. 
al"dermanlike' in'fundib'uliform' 

Subjoined are a few instances of the accent followed by three 
or more unaccented syllables : — 



ACCENT, 



227 



arbitrarily 

creditableness 

dangerousness 

excellency 

damageableness 

figuratively 

hideousness 

gentlemanly 

gentlemanliness 



laterally 

marvellousness 

mannerliness 

nominative 

literarily 

necessitousne^s 

onerary 

primarily 

rhetorically 



secondarily 

secondariness 

secretariship 

serviceableness 

singularly 

scripturalness 

temperament 

temporarily 

unnecessarilv 



The following Table shows the varieties of regular accentuation 
in words of different syllabic length : — the stars denote the primary 
accents, the larger dots the secondary accents, and the smaller 
dots unaccented syllables. 

Table of Accents. 



* • 1 . 


_ _ as in wa.vwa.rd . 


* 1 


away. 

temperate. 
' remember. 

recommend. 
' temporary. 

contemporal. 
' contemplation. 

misunderstand. 
' superintend. 

necessariness. 
' inveterately. 
' anatomical. 
' subordination. 
' epigrammatic. 
' unnecessarily. 

disingenuously. 
' superabundantly. 
' extemporaneous. 
' personification. 
' antipestilential. 
' inconsiderableness. 

invalitudinary. 

impracticability. 
' indestructibility. 
' intercolumniation. 
1 incommunicability. 
' incomprehensibility. 


* • • 








* . 
• . * . 












* .... 

• * • 
• . * . 




















. . . . * . 






















' 


• . • . . * . . 1 ... 

• . . • . * . . 1 ... 



228 ACCENT. 

The secondary accent is, in all the preceding instances, se- 
parated from the primary, by the intervention of one or two unac- 
cented syllables ; but there may be a secondarily accented force 
on a syllable which is not separated from the primary. The 
discriminating ear will at once detect the presence of a secondary 
accent on the negative prefixes in the following lines, if express- 
ively read: 

" He sinks into thy depths with bubbling groan, 
Without a grave, im'knelled", wn'cof'fined, and tm'known"." 
" The wretch, concentred all in self, 
Living, shall forfeit fair renown, 
And, doubly dying, shall go down 
To the vile dust from whence he sprung, 
ZJw'wept, im'hon'oured, and tm'sung" ! 
In these cases, the primary accent immediately follows the 
secondary ; and such accentuation is not confined to words with 
negative prefixes, but any prefix may receive emphatical import- 
ance in the same way, — as co'-e"qual, con'join", de'hort", e'duce", 
il'le"gal, im'mense" ! pan'soph"ical, pre'mer"it, re'-ech"o, &c. We 
have the same accentuation in the common unlexiconed words, 
so' -so", tee'-to"tal, &c. ; and the word amen, which is universally 
acknowledged as a doubly accented word, has not two equal 
accents, but a secondary and primary, thus, a'men". The word 
farewell, also, has two accents in its ordinary utterance, — the 
primary accent sometimes on the first and sometimes on the 
second syllable. 

When words differing only, or chiefly, in one of their syllables, 
are antithetic, the emphasis of opposition is expressed by trans- 
position of the accent to the syllable of difference. Thus instead 
of forgiv'ing, forbear'ing, injus'tice, undone', &c, we say 
/or'giving when opposed to giving 
for' bearing bearing 

injustice justice 

im'done done, «fec. 

When the opposition is between two prefixes otherwise unac- 
cented, they take the primary force, and the ordinarily accented 
syllable retains a secondary accent, — as in 

in"crease' when opposed to de"crease' 
pro"ceed' pre"cede' 

e"volve' re'Volve' 



RHYTHM. '229 

pro"la'tion when opposed to pre"la'tioii 
im"pul'sion ex"pursion 

ex"te'rior in"te'rior, &c. 

And so in antithetic terminations we might give them the 
primary accent, and mark the ordinarily accented syllable by 
secondary force, — thus : 

prin'ciple" when opposed to prin'cipal" 
sym'bol" c'ymbal" 

When the syllable of difference happens to be under the 
secondary accent, we mark antithesis by giving it the primary, 
and transferring the secondary accent to the regular place of the 
primary. Thus, we say 

prop"osi'tion when opposed to prep"osi'tion 
al"locu'tion el"ocu'tion 

probability plau"sibi'lity. 

In practising the foregoing tables of variously accented words, 
the student would find it useful to beat time to his utterance, by 
making a downward stroke of the hand on each accent. This 
will lead him to distinguish the more clearly, accented from un- 
accented syllables by his voice ; and it will serve, far better than 
any explanation we could give, to manifest the accentual differ- 
ences to those whose ears do not readily apprehend them. In this 
way the possibility — if it be disputed — of the secondary accent 
occurring next to the primary, will be proved, and its presence 
detected ; for if any two consecutive syllables be uttered with a 
downward action of the same hand accompanying each, they 
must both be accented ; for it is manifest that there must be 
between them the time of an unaccented syllable, correspondent 
to the raising of the hand between its two descents. 

In order to distinguish secondary from primary accents, let the 
hand or finger make a full stroke downwards upon the table, for 
the former ; and a half stroke downwards towards the table for 
the latter. This will lead the voice, too, sympathetically, into a 
correspondently relative inflexion of the accents. 

RHYTHM. 

The adjustment of the force of syllables, — of the accents, — in 
sentences, constitutes rhythm ; a subject which has been involved 
in much obscurity by the way in which writers have treated of it, 
but which is sufliciently simple to be transferred to practice, long 
before the complex theories of rhythmical writers could be fairly 



230 RHYTHM. 

studied. To express the pulsation and remission, time and rest, 
which constitute the elements of rhythm, sets of symbols have 
been invented, which are as unnecessary to the full understanding of 
the subject, as they are clumsy and deforming to the didactic page. 

Rhythm, good or bad, is an element of all speech. In every 
sentence, however uttered, or by whomsoever, there is a rhythm ; 
it may be stiff — like the action of a person on stilts ; regular and 
firm — like the march of a soldier ; irregular and weak — like the 
sidling progression of a simpleton ; undecided — like much ordinary 
walking ; limping — like the motion of a cripple ; hurried or slow ; 
leaping or creeping ; staggering or steady ; jolting or smooth ; 
graceful or vulgar : in short, it may have every characteristic of 
action. As various as are the modes of walking, between the 
courtier's gait and the hobble of a clown, or the styles of gesticu- 
lation between the expressive elegance of an accomplished actor, 
and the thumping and jumping of a ranting preacher, so numer- 
ous and so characteristic are the kinds of rhythm heard in the 
different departments of oratory, and in colloquial speech. 

The object of our rhythmical directions and exercises is to 
enable the student to adapt the thesis and arsis of the voice, — 
the light and shade of speech, to the full expression of the sense 
of what he utters. The regulation of rhythm so as perfectly to 
bring out the sense and expressiveness of a passage is often a very 
nice point, requiring much judgment and taste ; it affords, 
therefore, ample scope for the display of these admirable qualities 
in a public reader or speaker ; and no more useful exercise can 
occupy the attention of the elocutionary student. 

The various readings of disputed passages in the poets, especi- 
ally in Shakspere, which occupy critics, and afford such abundant 
exercise and opportunity for mental and vocal discrimination, are 
just so many varieties of rhythm. The pulsation of accent on 
this syllable, and the remission on that, are the topics of the 
most enlightened and learned disquisition and criticism. 

Every single word is not the sign of a distinct idea. Gram- 
matical words are rather, merely, syllables of what has been 
called the " oratorical word," which fully expresses the idea or 
completes some part of it. Words, therefore, in good utterance, 
fall into expressive groups, which are separated from each other, 
not always by a pause, but by some change of modulation, break 
of inflexion, or other appreciable variety of style, which clearly 



RHYTHM— GROUPING. 231 

marks to the ear and mind, the boundaries of each group or 
Oratorical Word. 

We shall not, at once, present the student with a perfect mode 
of grouping, but lead him over some preliminary stages, to 
show the mutual relations and dependencies of words ; and to 
give him opportunity of practice in the principle of grouping and 
pausing, before arriving at the mode in which his highest ora- 
torical efforts may safely be made. 

I. Single words, we have said, do not separately express ideas, or complete 
portions of an idea. Articles, for instance, serve merely to point out the 
definiteness or indefiniteness of an object. Between them and their substantives 
we find the first degree of relation subsisting. Let the student then consider the 
article and the word to which it refers as one word, and enounce then accord- 
ingly. The accent, or rhythmical force, may sometimes be on the article, 
" I did not say - a" man' - bat - the" man' j" " we should not write - an" u'nit, 
- union, or universe, but - a" u'nit, - union, or universe :" — except, however, 
in such contrasts, the article will be unaccented. The article may be united with 
the qualifying' word should one intervene between it and the substantive, — as 
" a good - man, - a very - good - man ;" but should a parenthesis intervene, 
the article must be separated from it, as in the sentence, " It is an- I had 
almost said - asinine affair." In reading the passages illustrating the different 
stages of grouping, or in practising any of the stages, the student should accom- 
pany each accent with an action of the hand or finger. In the following sen- 
tences the downward action will take place on every word except in the article- 
group. A secondary accent may be given to the article when it is the second 
syllable before the primary accent of the group, as u a' respecf'able -man," 
" the' delud"ed - people," " an' incre"dible - affair." 

Examples of the First Stage. 

A contemplation - of- God's - works, - a voluntary - act - of- jus- 
tice - to - our - own - detriment, a generous - concern - for - the 
good - of - mankind, - tears - shed - in - silence - for - the misery - of - 
others, - a private - desire - of- resentment - broken - and - subdued, - 
an unfeigned - exercise - of - humility, or - any - other - virtue ; - are - 
such - actions - as - denominate - men - great - and reputable. 

He - that - would - pass - the latter - part - of - life - with - honour - 
and - decency, - must, - when - he - is - young, - consider - that - he - 
shall - one - day - be - old ; - and - remember - when - he - is - old - that - 
he - has - once - been -young ; - in - youth - he - must - lay - up - know- 
ledge - for - his - support - when - his - powers - of - acting - shall - 
forsake - him, - and - in - age - forbear - to - animadvert - with - rigour 
- on - faults - which - experience - only - can - correct. 



232 RHYTHM. 

A cheerful - temper, - joined - with - innocence, - will - make - 
beauty - attractive, - knowledge - delightful, - and - wit - good-na- 
tured ; - it - will - lighten - sickness, - poverty, - and - affliction ; — 
convert - ignorance - into - an amiable - simplicity, - and - render - 
deformity - itself - agreeable. 

Mankind - must - speak - from - the beginning, - therefore - ought 

- from - the beginning - to - be - taught - to - speak - rightly ; - else - 
they - may- acquire - a habit -of- speaking - wrong. — And - who- 
ever - knows - the difficulty- of - breaking - through - bad - habits, 

- will - avoid - that - labour - by - prevention. 

Night, - sable - goddess ! - from - her - ebon - throne, 
In - rayless - majesty - now - stretches - forth 
Her - leaden - sceptre - o'er - a slumbering - world. 
Silence - how - dead ! - and - darkness - how - profound ! 
Nor - eye - nor - listening - ear - an object - finds. 
Creation - sleeps. 'Tis - as - the general - pulse 
Of - life - stood - still, - and - nature - made - a pause, — 
An awful - pause, - prophetic - of - her - end. 

II. The next degree of relation subsists between prepositions and the nouns to 
which they refer ; a break of any kind is seldom admissible betwixt them. The 
groups may now therefore include with articles, all prepositions, when they stand 
next to the words to which they relate. Should a parenthesis intervene, the pre- 
position must be separated from it, as " It will come to- 1 know not what - an 
end at all events." In such constructions as the following, the preposition 
must stand apart from the words immediately after it, to show the ellipsis, — 
around him, above him, &c, 

" Thus while — around— the wave subjected soil 

Impels the native to repeated toil," 
" There, while — above — the giddy tempest flies, 
And all around — distressful yells arise." — 

Prepositions used as part of a verb, whether as the sign of the infinitive, to 
walk, to read, &c, or as adverbial complements to give in, to put down, &c, 
may in this stage be included in the rhythmical groups. 

Prepositions — properly so called — are generally unaccented, or merely of 
secondary force. In case of antithesis, however, the preposition takes the 
primary accent, as " I did not say - upon" the ta'ble, - but - un"der the ta'ble." 
" Be instant -in" sea' son, and - out" of sea' son." The sign of the infinitive 
to is always unaccented or secondary. 

Prepositions used as part of a verb are generally the emphatic syllables 
in the compound, as " Hold' off" - your hands." " Rouse' up" -for shame." 
" Shake' off'"- this downy sleep, death's counterfeit, and look on death 
itself" " Say' on", - Fll hear thee" 

A secondary accent will fall on the preposition when it is the second or third 



RHYTHM-GROUPING. 233 

syllable before the primary : as " to' remem"ber" " to' lament" " " within' 
a month"" " out' at thepor"tal." The preposition will be secondarily ac- 
cented, also, when it is the second or third syllable before a secondary accent, 
as " by' the rec'ommenda"tion" " through' a mis'apprehen"sion." 

Examples of the Second Stage. 

Year - steals - upon us - after year. Life - is - never - still - for 

a moment ; but - continually, - though - insensibly, - sliding - into 

a new- form. Infancy - rises up - fast - to childhood ; - childhood - 

to youth ; youth - passes - quickly - into manhood ; and - the grey 

- hair, - and - the fading - look, - are - not - long - in admonishing - 
us - that - old - age - is - at hand. 

The desire - of distinction - in the world - is - a commendable - 
quality - when - it - excites - men - to the performance - of illus- 
trious - actions : but - this - ambition - is - so - seldom - directed - to 
its - proper - end, - and - is - so - little - scrupulous - in the choice - of 
the means - which - it - employs - for the accomplishment - of its 
-purpose, - that - it - frequently- ruins - the morals - of those -who 

- are - actuated - by it : and - thus - for the pleasure - of being - 
lifted up - for a moment - above the common - level - of mankind, 

- many - a man - has - forfeited - his - character - with the wise - 
and - good, - and - inflicted - wounds - on his - conscience, - which - 
the balm - of flattering - dependants - can - never - heal. 

Without eloquence, - knowledge - proceeds - faintly - and - slowly, - 
like - unassisted - strength -in manual - works -with much- clumsy 

- labour : oratory - we - may- compare - to the mechanical - arts - 
which, - by engines - and - well-adapted - instruments, - produce - 
the same - effects - with ease, - and - finish - with elegancy. 

The universe - is - represented - in every-one-of its - particles. 
Every - thing - in nature - contains - all - the powers - of nature. 
The world - globes - itself -in a drop - of dew. The microscope - 
cannot - find - the animalcule, - which - is - less - perfect - for being 

- little. Eyes, - ears, - taste, smell, -motion,- resistance, -appetite, 

- and - organs - of reproduction, - which - take - hold - on eternity, - 
all - find - room - to consist - in the small - creature. 

Whence - learned - she - this ? - - she - was - innocent ! 

And - to be - innocent - is - Nature's - wisdom ! 

The fledge-dove - knows - the prowlers - of the air, - 

Feared - soon - as - seen, - and - flutters - back - to shelter. 

And - the young - steed - recoils - upon his - haunches, 

The never-yet-seen - adder's - hiss - first - heard. 

O surer - than - suspicion's - hundred - eyes - 



W RHYTHM— GROUPING. 

Is - that - fine • sense - which - to the pure - in heart - 
By mere - oppugn ancy - of their - own - goodness - 
Reveals - the approach - of evil. 

III. Connected in the next degree axe Personal Pronouns and Verbs. The 
groups may now therefore include all personal pronouns, whether governing the 
verb ; as — / love, thou lovest, he loves, or governed by it, as love me, Hove her, 
They love us. 

In such phrases as there is, was there, I did so, &;c, the words there and so, 
have no adverbial force, and may be considered as a kind of impersonal pro- 
noun : they should therefore be added to the verb in this stage. 

The sense must, of course, regulate the accent. When the pronoun is the 
antecedent to a relative, it will be accented ; as, 

" He" jests' - at scars' - who' • nev'er - felt' - a wound'." 
Also, when pronominal antithesis is expressed or implied, the pronoun will take 
the primary accent, as — " did he' - tell' you", or - did you' - tell' him" ?" but 
otherwise the pronoun will generally be unaccented or secondary. 

When the pronoun is the second syllable before the verbal accent, it receives a 
secondary accent, as — " I' acknowledge it." When the verb itself has a se- 
condary accent on the first syllable, it will yield that accent to the pronoun when 
emphatic, unless the latter is not sufficiently emphatic to take a pause after it, 
and form a beat by itself; as — " We' entertain" - hopes of a recovery, though 
the patient does not;" or — " We' - en'tertain" -hopes," 8fc. (the time of an 
unaccented syllable between the pronoun and verb.) 

Examples of the Third Stage. 
God's - moral -laws, -the radiations -of his -being, were- designed 

- to converge - in the human - heart, - and - form - there - another 

- sun, - whose - light - is - peace ; peace - irradiating - every - ac- 
tion - of the life - and - every - emotion - of the soul. Love - in 
the heart - of God - is - the sum - of his - infinite - attributes, — the 
source - of all - his - laws. Love - in the heart - of man - is - the 
fulfilling, — the confluence - of those - laws. Thus, - " God - is - a 
Sun," and- the human - heart - a satellite, • revolving - around 
the great - heart - of God, - and - receiving - its - rays, - and - re- 
flecting - its - light. The royal - law - of love - is - a pencil - of 
God's - attributes, - perfusing - the human - soul - with the grand 

- generic - element - of his - being, - his - love, - and - with the light - 
of that - love, - which - is - peace. Nay, - more ; - the connexion 

- between the sun - and - its - satellite - comes - far - short - of 
illustrating - the unity - subsisting - between God - and - him - who 

- keeps - his - royal -law. Says - the apostle, "He - that - dwelleth - 
in love, - dwelleth - in God, - and - God - in him ;" - love - merges 

- his - heart - in the heart - of God, - a tributary - to that - ocean 



RHYTHM— GROUPING. 235 

- of bliss, - and - light, - and - peace, - with which - the effluence 

- of God's - being - would - fill - the universe, - were - his - royal - 
law - obeyed - in all - worlds - as - it is - in heaven. 

If - there were - no - other - benefits - resulting - from the art - 
of reading - well, - than - the necessity - it lays us under - of pre- 
cisely - ascertaining - the meaning - of what - we read, - and - the 
habit - of doing - this - with facility, - both - when - reading - 
silently - and - aloud, - they would - constitute - a sufficient - com- 
pensation - for all - the labours - we can - bestow - on the subject. 

There is - not - an evil - incident - to human - nature, - for which 

- the gospel - doth - not - provide - a remedy. Are you - ignorant 

- of many - things - which - it - highly - concerns you - to know ? 

- The gospel - offers you - instruction. Have you - deviated - 
from the path - of duty ? — The gospel - offers you - forgiveness. 
— Do - temptations - surround you? — The gospel- offers you -the 
aid - of Heaven. Are you - exposed - to misery ? — It consoles 
you. Are you - subject - to death ? — It offers you - immortality. 

There is - a true - sublime - in delivery, ~ as - in the other - 
imitative - arts ; in the manner - as-well-as - in the matter - of 
what - an orator - delivers. As - in poetry, - painting, - sculpture, 

- music, - and - the other - elegancies, - the true . sublime - con- 
sists - in a set - of masterly, _ large, - and - noble - strokes _ of 
art, - superior - to florid - littleness ; - so _ it is - in delivery. The 
accents - are - to be - clear - and - articulate ; every - syllable - 
standing off - from that- which - is - next . to it, - so - that - they 
might - be - numbered - as - they proceed. The inflexions - of 
the voice - are - to be - so - distinctly - suited - to the matter, - 
that - the humour - or - passions - might - be - known - by the 
sound - of the voice - only, . where - there could _ not - be - one - 
word - heard. And - the variations - are - to be - like - the full - 
swelling . folds - of the drapery - in a fine - picture - or - statue, 

- bold, - and - free, - and - forcible. 

O, - we are - querulous - creatures ! Little - less - 
Than - nothing - can - suffice - to make us - happy ; 
And - little - less - than - nothing - is - enough - 
To make us - wretched. 

At thirty - man - suspects himself - a fool ; 
Knows it - at forty, - and - reforms - his - plan ; 
At fifty, - chides - his - infamous - delay, — 
Pushes - his - prudent - purpose - to resolve ; 
In all - the magnanimity - of thought, 
Resolves, - and - re-resolves, - then - dies - the same. 



236 RHYTHM— GROUPING. 

IV. Adjective Pronouns may now be united to their nouns, or to the qualifying 
word intervening ; and Relative Pronouns to the verbs which they govern, or 
by which they are governed, to form the next stage of compacted utterance. 
The compound pronominal adjectives, my own, his own, £$c. may be considered 
as one, and united with their nouns ; as — " Come' you — of your own' accord", 
— was' it — your oivn 1 incW'ning V 

The primary accent will be on the pronoun, only when it is antithetic to some 
other, expressed or understood ; as — " His" words' - come' -from' his mouth," - 
ours' -from' our breast" ;" or when it is the antecedent to a relative ; as — 
' ' Ev"ery man' — who un' der stands" — the sub'ject — will — say' so." A secon- 
dary accent will fall on the pronoun when it is the second syllable before the 
primary, as — " His' indus"trious - haVits;" but if a preposition precede the pro- 
noun, the secondary accent may pass the pronoun, and give prominence to the 
preposition, according to the sense. In the following sentence, most readers 
would put the secondary accent on the preposition in the first instance, and on 
the pronoun in the second. " By' his indus"trious — hdb'its — he rose' — to 
his' distin" guished — station. ' ' ' 

Examples of the Fourth Stage. 
There is - no - music - in the life 
That sounds - with idiot-laughter - solely ; 
There's - not - a string - attuned - to mirth — 
But - has - its chord - in melancholy. 
The principal - rule - for guiding - our choice - of words - with 
a view - to Energy, - is - to prefer - ever - those words - which are 

- the least - abstract, - and - general. Individuals - alone - hav- 
ing - a real - existence, - the terms - denoting them - called - by 
Logicians " singular - terms," -will, - of course, - make - the most - 
vivid - impression - on the mind, - and - exercise - most - the power 

- of conception ; and - the less - remote - any term - is - from 
these, i.e. the more - specific - or - individual, - the more - energy 

- it will - possess - in comparison - of such - as - are - more- general. 
The impression - produced - on the mind -by a " singular - 
term" - may- be - compared - to the distinct - view- taken in -by 
the eye - of any object — suppose - some particular - man - near - at 
hand - in a clear - light, - which enables us - to distinguish - 
the features, of the individual; in a fainter - light, - or - rather 
-farther off, -we merely - perceive - that - the object -is -a man; 
this - corresponds -with the idea - conveyed -by the name -of the 
species ; yet - further off, - or - in a still - feebler - light, - we 
can - distinguish - merely - some living - object ; and - at length, 

- merely - some object ; these views - corresponding - respec- 
tively - with the terms, - the genera - more - or - less - remote. 
And - as - each - of these views - conveys, - as - far - as - it goes, 



RHYTHM— GROUPING. 237 

- an equally - correct - impression - to the mind, - though - each - 
successively - is - less - vivid ; - so - in language - a generic - term - 
may -be - as - clearly - understood - as - a specific - or -a singular - 
term, - but -will - convey- a much -less - forcible - impression -to 
the hearer's - mind. 

The boast - of heraldry, the pomp - of power, 

And - all - that beauty, - all - that pomp - e'er -' gave, 
Await, - alike, - the inevitable - hour ; 

The paths - of glory - lead - but - to the grave. 
He - that has - long - cultivated - the tree, and - pleased him- 
self - with computing - how - much - every sun - and - shower - has 

- added - to its growth, - scarcely - stays - till - the fruit - has - 
reached - its maturity, - but - defeats - his own cares - by eager- 
ness - to reward them. 

Know, - Nature's - children - all - divide - her care ; 
The fur - that warms - a monarch - warmed - a bear. 
While - man - exclaims, - " See, - all things-for my use,"- 
" See, - man - for mine !" - exclaims - a pampered - goose : 
And - just - as - short - of reason, - he must - fall, 
Who thinks - all - made - for one, - not - one - for all. 

You wrong me - every way ; you wrong me, - Brutus ; - 
I said - an elder - soldier, - not - a better. 
Did I - say - better ? 
The force - of attitude - and - looks - alone - appears - in a 
wondrously - striking - manner - in the works - of the painter - 
and - statuary, - who have - the delicate - art - of making - the 
flat - canvas - and - rocky - marble - utter - every passion - of 
the human - mind, - and - touch - the soul - of the spectator, - 
as - if - the picture - or - statue - spoke - the pathetic - language - 
of Shakspeare. It is - no - wonder, - then, - that - masterly - action, 

- joined - with powerful - elocution, - should - be - irresistible. 

Real - action - is - in silent - moments. The epochs - of our 
life - are - not - in the visible - facts - of our choice - of a calling, 

- our marriage, - our acquisition - of an office, - and - the like ; 
but - in a silent - thought - by the wayside - as - we walk ; in a 
thought - which revises - our entire - manner - of life, - and - says, - 
" Thus - hast thou - done, - but - it were - better - thus." And - 
all - our after-years, - like - menials, - do - serve - and- wait - on 
this, - and, - according - to their ability, - do - execute - its will. 



3tt RHYTHM-GROUPING. 

V. The Negatives no and yiot, and Adverbs qualifying adjectives or adverbs, 
seem now least to bear separation from their respective correlated words, and 
they may therefore be added to the rhythmical groups. 

The negative, and adverb of this class, are generally unaccented, or only 
under the secondary accent. The negative takes the primary accent in such a 
sentence; as — " To be' — or' — not" to fee'," because of the emphatic opposition ; 
and the adverb will take the accent when the degree of limitation rather than 
the fact of limitation is to be made prominent ; as in the latter part of this sen- 
tence, — " It is'— high' ly prob" able — very" prob' able — noticing — more" so'." 

Examples of the Fifth Stage. 
There is - nothing - in the universe - that stands - alone, — 
nothing - solitary. No atom - of matter, - no drop - of water, - no 
vesicle - of air, - or - ray - of light - exists - in a state - of isolation. 
Everything - belongs - to some system - of society, of which - it 
is - a component - and - necessary - part. Just so - it is - in the 
moral - world. — No man - stands - alone, - nor - high - angel, - 
nor - child. All the beings - " lessening down - from Infinite - 
perfection - to the brink - of dreary - nothing," belong - to a 
system - of mutual - dependencies. All - and - each - constitute 

- and - enjoy - a part - of the world's - sum - of happiness. No 
one - liveth - to himself. The most obscure - individual - exerts 

- an influence - which must - be - felt - in the great - brotherhood 

- of mankind. As - the little - silvery - circular - ripple, - set - in 
motion - by the falling - pebble, - expands - from its inch - of 
radius - to the whole - compass - of the pool, - so - there is not - a 
child, - not - an infant - Moses - placed, - however softly, - in his 
bulrush - ark - upon the sea - of time, - whose existence - does not 

- stir - a ripple - gyrating - outward - and - on, - until - it shall - 
have - moved across - and - spanned - the whole - ocean - of God's 

- eternity, - stirring - even - the river -of life, - and - the fountains 

- at which - his tall - angels - drink. u To be, - or - not to be ?" 

- is that - the question? No. — We are ; - and - whether - we live 

- or - die - we are - the Lord's ; we belong - to his eternity, - and - 
henceforth - his moral - universe - will- be - filled - with our existence. 

Because - the soul - is - progressive - it never - quite - repeats 
itself, - but - in every act - attempts - the production - of a new 

- and - fairer - whole. Thus, - in our Fine - Arts, - not imita- 
tion, - but - creation - is - the aim. In landscape, - the painter 

- should - give - the suggestion - of a fairer - creation - than - we 
know. The details, - the prose - of Nature, - he should - omit, 

- and - give us - only - the spirit - and - splendour. Valuing - 



RHYTHM— GROUPING. 239 

more - the expression - of Nature - than - Nature - herself, - he 
will - exalt - in his copy - the features - that please him. He 
will - give - the gloom - of gloom, -and - the sunshine -of sunshine. 
With what stiff - and - pedantic - solemnity - do - some public- 
speakers - utter - thoughts - so trifling - as - to be - hardly worth 

- uttering - at all ! and - what unnatural - and - unsuitable - 
tones - and - gesticulations - do - others - apply - in delivering - 
what, - by their manner - of delivery, - one - would be - apt - to 
question, - not only - whether - it is - their own composition, - but 

- whether - they - really - understand it. 

Methought - I saw - 
Life - swiftly - treading - over endless - space, 
And - at her foot-print - but - a bygone - pace,- 
The ocean-past - which, - with increasing - wave, 
Swallowed - her steps - like - a pursuing - grave. 

Look - how - the golden - ocean - shines - above 
Its pebbly - stones, - and - magnifies - their girth'; 
So - does - the bright - and - blessed - light - of love, 
Its own things - glorify, - and - raise - their worth. 

VI. Auxiliary Verbs may form the next addition, and be read with their princi- 
pal verbs as one oratorical word. Should an adverb, or any clause, intervene be- 
tween the auxiliary and principal verb, such word or clause must stand by itself, 
and the auxiliary be separated ; as— ." I shall' — cer'tainly — avail' myself. — of 
your ]cind"ness" " You may' — I' assure" you — calculate — on thi*'."' 

The primary accent will always fall on the principal verb, unless when the 
circumstances of time, mode, &c. are peculiarly emphatic : as — " Go' I mu"sV 
" i" did" believe' him- once' ." " I do" suspect' him-not' 'withstand" 'ing." " It 
can"not be done'." 

Examples of the Sixth Stage. 
Society - never - advances. It recedes - as fast - on one side - 
as - it gains - on the other. It undergoes - continual - changes ; 
but - this change - is not - amelioration. For everything - that 
is given - something - is taken. Society - acquires - new - 
arts - and - loses - old - instincts. The civilized - man - has built 

- a coach, - but - has lost - the use - of his feet. He is supported 

- on crutches, but - loses - so much - support - of muscle. He 
has got - a fine - Geneva - watch, - but - he has lost - the skill - 
to tell - the hour - by the sun. A Greenwich - nautical-almanac - 
he has, - and - so - being - sure - of the information - when - he 
wants it. - the man - in the street - does not know - a star - in 



240 RHYTHM— GROUPING. 

the sky. The solstice - he knows - as little : and - the whole 
bright - calendar -of the year -is -without a dial - in his mind. 
His note-books - impair - his memory ; his libraries - overload - 
his wit. 

Next - to the blessing - of redemption - and - the graces - con- 
sequent - upon it, - there is - no gift - bestowed - by God - equal - 
in value - to a good - education; other advantages - are enjoyed 

- by the body, - this - belongs - entirely - to the spirit ; whatever 
is - great, - or - good, - or - glorious - in the works - of men, - is 

- the fruit - of educated - minds. Religion - herself - loses - 
half - her beauty - and - influence - when - not attended - or - 
assisted - by education ; and - her power - and - majesty - are - 
never - so exalted - as - when - cultivated - genius - and - refined 

- taste - become - her heralds - or - her handmaids. 

On parent-knees - a naked - new-born - child, 
Weeping - thou sat'st, - while - all - around thee - smiled ; 
So - live, - that - sinking - on thy last - long - sleep, 
Thou - then - may'st smile - while - all - around thee - weep. 

Ah ! - must I dwell - in infinite - despair, - 
As many years - as - atoms - in the air ? - 
When - these - expire, - as many - yet - in store - 
As - grains - of sand - that crowd - the ebbing - shore ? - 
When - these - are gone, - as many - to ensue - 
As - blades - of grass - on hills - or - dales - that grew? 
When - these - pass o'er, - as many - left behind - 
As - leaves - of forests - shaken - by the wind ? 
When - these - run out, - as many - on the march - 
As - brilliant - lamps - that gild - yon azure - arch ? 
When - these - are past, - as many - many - more, 
As - moments - in the millions - past - before ? 
When - all - these dreadful - years - are spent - in pain, 
And - multiplied - by myriads - again, 
Till - numbers - drown - the thought : could I suppose - 
That - those - my wretched - years - were - at a close, 
This - would afford - some ease ; but - ah, - I shiver 
To think - upon the dreadful - words - "for ever !" 
The burning - gulf - where - I - blaspheming - lie, - 
Is - time - no more, - but - vast - Eternity ! 



RHYTHM—GROUPING. 241 

Nor - can - any reader - imagine - an art - could have been - in 
all free - governments - so laboriously - cultivated - by statesmen, 
- had they not found it - useful- in the state. Do we not - in our 
own times - see - the effects - produced - by it - in the British - 
Parliament ? But - if - any one - should allege - that - there is - 
nothing - in the power - of preachers - by means - of oratory, - does 
it not follow - that - then - the whole function - of preaching - 
may - as well - be laid aside ? For -if- good - speaking - will have - 
no effect - upon mankind, - surely - bad - speaking - will have "none. 



VII. A most important addition to the groups may now be made in the Ad- 
jective, which may be included with its noun, or phrase equivalent, in the same 
oratorical word. Two adjectives cannot, of course, be so connected, for there 
is between them a necessary ellipsis of the noun. 

Nouns in the Possessive case may also be added to the groups in this stage ; 
as — " The Pil'grini's Pro" gr ess." " Which' -in heav'en-ivill show' -the best', -a 
rich' mail's hon"our,-or — a poor' man's hon"esty f" The student must now be 
most careful to regulate the accents in accordance with the sense. The noun 
in the possessive will have the primary accent only in case of antithesis ; as — 
" This is a wo"marfs cloak', -not' a man's"." The adjective will have the 
primary and the noun the secondary accent, when the subject of the sentence is 
rather the quality of the noun than the noun itself; or when the noun has been 
previously expressed or implied in the sentence ; but otherwise the primary accent 
will be generally demanded by the noun. 

It is a common but erroneous rule, that the chief accent should be always on 
the qualifying or limiting word. The primary accent cannot be always on 
either the one or the other, but it is more frequently on the qualified than on 
the qualifying word. In the best class of compositions, a large proportion of 
the adjectives and nouns will be found to be of equal value ; and of those that 
are not so, the nouns have most frequently the preponderance of emphasis. 
Thus in Pope's short poem of the " Messiah," we note 103 adjective clauses ; in 
39 of which the adjectives and nouns are of equal value (equally emphatic 
or equally subordinate ;) in 46 of which the nouns are of superior value to the 
adjectives : and in only 18 of which the adjectives require to be primarily 
accented. In farther illustration, we collect the adjective- clauses from two pieces 
with which every reader must be familiar, — Lord Byron's stanzas to the Ocean, 
and the Rev. C. Wolfe's lines on the Burial of Sir John Moore. 

" There is a pleasure in the pathless woods ; There is a rapture on the lonely 
shore ; There is society, where none intrudes, By the deep sea, and music in its 

roar Roll on, thou deep, and dark, blue Ocean, — roll ! Ten thousand fleets 

sweep over thee in vain! The armaments which thunderstrike the walls of 

rock-built cities The oak leviathans, whose huge ribs make Their clay 

creator the vain title take of lord of thee Time writes no wrinkles on thine 

Hh 



242 RHYTHM— GROUPING. 

azure brow Thou glorious mirror, where the Almighty's form glasses 

itself," &c. 

" Not a drum was heard, not a funeral note Not a soldier discharged his 

farewell shot By the struggling moon-beam's misty light No useless 

coffin enclosed his breast With his martial cloak around him Few 

and short were the prayers we said We thought as we hollowed his nar- 
row bed, And smoothed down his lonely pillow But half of our heavy 

task was done And we heard the distant and random gun Lightly 

they'll talk of the spirit that's gone, And o'er his cold ashes upbraid him," &c. 

What reader of any judgement could subordinate the accent on the nouns to 
that of the adjectives in all these cases ? Nay, out of these twenty-four adjec- 
tive-phrases, who could, with justice to the sense, give to more than six or 
seven of the adjectives the primary accent ? 

The student will find the marking of the primary and secondary accents in the 
groups of this and the following stages, a most valuable exercise, both for the 
improvement of reading, and the cultivation of the judgement. 

To be able to read well at sight is not the work of a day ; nor is it a power 
ever to be gained by the indolent or the unthinking, or by those who neglect 
the study of Reading as a Science, and an Art. There is a Vocal Logic ; a 
Rhetoric of Inflexion ; a Poetry of Modulation ; a Commentator's explanatoriuess 
of Tone, and these are combined, in effective reading. The musician's consum- 
mate skill, and delicacy of execution, in keeping the simple air running with a 
wavy current in the midst of a river of variations, has its counterpart in the 
reader's vocal adaptation of sound to sense. The painter's artistic excellence in 
selecting objects to be struck out with varied effects, or covered down for con- 
trast, is emulated by the skilful reader, in the due subordination and prominence 
of every thought and circumstance, according to its relative importance. A 
master of ceremonies is not more punctilious in his arrangements, than the 
voice of a tasteful and judicious reader. 

Can drawlers dream of these capabilities in connexion with reading ? Caii 
they imagine the possibility of such improvements on the hum-drum, sing-song 
tune of their voices ; the flat, misty, effectless daubs of their vocal pictures ; 
the anarchy and orderless confusion of their grouping and emphasis ? Baneful 
habit has stopped their ears and closed their eyes, so that they are unconscious 
alike of the high possibilities of reading, and of their own low actualities. No 
man who felt his failings, and knew what might be done by the reader, would 
ever open his mouth in public to deteriorate the taste of an audience by such 
gross incompetency as is but too often manifested by public readers. 

To become a good reader requires long practice and deep study. It requires 
more than Rules could teach, or Art principle ; yet it demands nothing which 
the mind may not discover for itself, when it has become accustomed to fix its 
attention, and concentrate its powers in reading. The voice will soon learn ex- 
pressive obedience when it habitually watches for, and can recognise the mental 
promptings. Yet, perhaps, — and this forms the value of reading-exercises in 



RHYTHM— GROUPING. 243 

educating the mind, — the student will find, that, even in his best efforts, his 
execution will fall considerably short of his conceptions. 

These remarks may seem misplaced here, — our business being with the 7th 
stage of grouping and accentuation ; but in the worst reading, it is improper 
grouping and accentuation that make the reading so bad ; and the error lies 
most frequently in the management of Adjectives and qualifying phrases. So 
that, with good reason, we take occasion here to caution the student to be very 
careful; in this and the following stages, to cultivate a habit of close-thinking 
as he reads, and of careful relative accentuation. 

Examples of the Seventh Stage. 

Take - the general term, - man. We have - occasion - to apply 
it - to the denoting - of some particular. Let it be required - to 
express - this particular - as - unknown, - we say- a" man' ; - known, 

- we say - the" man' ; - indefinite, - any man ; - definite, - a certain 
man ; - present - and - near, - this man ; - present - and - distant, - 
that man ; - like - to some other, - such a man ; - an indefinite mul- 
titude, - many men ; - a definite multitude, - a thousand men ; - the 
ones - of a multitude - taken - throughout, - every man ; - the same 
ones - taken - with distinction, - each man ; r taken - in order, - first 
man, - second man, &c. ; - the whole multitude - of particulars - 
taken - collectively, - all men ; - the negation - of this multitude, - 
no man. 

I hold - our actual knowledge - very cheap. Hear - the rats - 
in the wall, - see - the lizard - on the fence, - the fungus - under 
foot, - the lichen - on the log. What - do I know - sympatheti- 
cally - morally - of either - of these worlds - of life ? As long - 
as - the Caucasian man, - perhaps longer, - these creatures - have 
kept - their council - beside him, - and - there is - no record - of 
any word - or - sign - that has passed - from one - to the other. 
Nay - what does - history - yet - record - of the metaphysical 
annals - of man ? What light - does it shed - on those mysteries - 
which we hide - under the names - Death - and - Immortality ? 
Yet - every history - should be written - in a wisdom - which 
divined - the range - of our affinities, - and - looked - at facts - as 
symbols. I am ashamed - to see - what a shallow village-tale - 

- our so-called History - is. 

The convincing - and - irrefragable proof - that - real - and - 
important effects - might be produced - by preachers - by a proper 
application - of oratory - to the purposes - of instructing - and - 
amending - mankind - is, - that - oratory - has been - in all times 

- known - actually- to produce - great alterations - in men's ways 

- of thinking - and - acting. And - there is - no denying - facts. 



241 RHYTHM— GROUPING. 

Sonnet. — Lear. 
A poor - old king - with sorrow - for my crown, - 
Throned - upon straw, - and - mantled - with the wind, - 
For pity - my own tears - have made me - blind - 
That - 1 might • never - see - my children's frown ; 
And - may-be - madness - like a friend - has thrown - 
A folded fillet - over my dark mind, 
So - that - unkindly speech - may sound - for kind, - 
Albeit - I know not. I am - childish - grown - 
And - have not - gold - to purchase - wit - withal. - 
I - that have - once - maintained - most royal state, 
A very bankrupt - now, - that may not call - 
My child, - my child — all beggar'd - save - in tears, 
Wherewith - I - daily - weep - an old man's fate, 
Foolish, - and - blind, - and - overcome - with years ! — Hood. 

VIII. Nouns, adjectives, adverbs, or simple equivalent phrases forming the 
thing or quality predicated by the verb To Be, may be united to the verb, to 
form the next stage of rhythmically compacted utterance ; as — " Content- 
ment ■ is great gain." 

The verb seldom takes the primary accent, unless what is affirmed is of less 
importance in the sentence than the act of affirmation. Thus, when opposed to 
a negation — expressed or implied — or when there is an antithesis of time, the 
verb will be primarily accented ; but otherwise it will be unaccented, or will 
take only the secondary accent ; as — " /*' it so" ?" (or is it otherwise ?■ un- 
derstood, "is" it so' f (or is it not so? understood.) "Is" it so' f 
(I know it was so, understood.) 

Examples of the Eighth Stage. 
It may - perhaps - be objected, - that - sacred truth - needs - no 
ornaments - to set it off, - no art - to enforce it ; that - the 
Apostles - were artless - and - illiterate men ; and - yet - they 
gained - the great end - of their mission, - the conviction - of mul- 
titudes, - and - establishment - of their religion ; that - therefore - 
there is no necessity - for this attention - to delivery, - in order - to 
qualify- the preacher - for his sacred oflice, - or -render - his labours 

- successful. To this - the answer - is ready, - viz. - The apostles - 
were not all - artless - and - illiterate. Paul, - the greatest - and 

- most general propagator - of Christianity, - is an eminent excep- 
tion. He could be no mean orator - who confounded - the Jews - 
at Damascus ; - made - a prince, - before whom - he stood - to be 
judged, - confess -that - he had - almost -persuaded him -to become 



RHYTHM—GROUPING. 245 

- a convert - to a religion - everywhere - spoken against ; threw 
another - into a fit - of trembling - as - he sat - upon his judgment- 
seat ; made - a defence - before the learned court - of Areopagus, 

- which gained him - for a convert - a member - of the court itself; 
struck - a whole people - with such admiration - that - they took 
him - for the God - of Eloquence ; - and - gained him - a place - in 
Longinus' list - of famous orators. Would - the cold-served-up 
monotony- of our English sermon-readers - have produced - such 
effects - as these ? The apostles - might - very well - spare - 
human accomplishments, - having - what was worth them all, - 
the Divine gift - of working - miracles ; which - if - our preachers 

- had, - I should not have - much - to say - about their qualifying 
themselves - in elocution. But, - as it is, - public instruction - 
is the preacher's weapon - with which - he is to combat - infidelity 

- and - vice. And - what avails - a weapon - without skill - to 
wield it ? 

It is easy - in the world - to live - after the world's opinion ; 

- it is easy - in solitude - to live - after our own ; - but - the great 
man - is he - who, - in the midst - of the crowd, - keeps - with per- 
fect sweetness - the independence - of solitude. 

The material cause, — the trumpet - sounds - because - 'tis made 

- of metal. The formal cause, — the trumpet - sounds - because - 
'tis long - and - hollow. The efficient cause, — the trumpet - 
sounds - because - an artist - blows it. The final cause, — the 
trumpet - sounds - that - it may raise - our courage. 

Those things - which are first - to Nature - are not first - to 
man. Nature - begins- from causes, - and - thence - descends - to 
effects. — Human perceptions - first - open - upon effects, - and - 
thence, - by slow degrees, - ascend - to causes. 
Like - to the falling - of a star, 
Or - as - the flights - of eagles - are, — 
Or - like the fresh spring's - gaudy hue, 
Or - silver drops - of morning dew ; 
Or - like a wind - that chafes - the flood, 
Or - bubbles - which - on water - stood : 
Even such - is man - whose borrowed light - 
Is - straight - called in - and - paid - to night ; — 
The wind - blows out, - the bubble - dies, 
The spring - entombed - in Autumn - lies, — 
The dew's - dried up, - the star - is shot, 
The flight - is past, - and - man - forgot. 



246 RHYTHM— GROUPING. 

IX. Unimportant Conjunctions — those chiefly which couple words, or simple 
clauses, and not leading sentences, and which are not followed by ellipsis, — may 
now be included in the same rhythmical group with the word or clause which they 
precede; as — " Whoev'er - is' in a hur"ry - shows' - that' the thing" -he 
is' about"- is too' big"- for him ; haste' -and hur'ry - are ver'y different 
things':' 

When a parenthesis or an emphatic adverb follows the conjunction, it must 
be kept apart; as — " /' shall call" - and' , - if pos"sible, - as' certain" - how' 

- mat'ters - are' progres"sing" 

To this stage may be added, clauses connected by conjunctions or preposi- 
tions, which are expressive of alternation ; as — " Now and then f " One by 
one ;" " Backward and forward;" " Up and down,'' <$fc. which may be taken 
into one group. Example " It was the village favourite - who was crowned 

- with flowers, - and - blushing and smiling - in all the beautiful confusion - 
of girlish diffidence - and delight.'" 

" From hill to hill - the rushing host - pursued." 
" From tent to tent - the impatient warrior - flies." 
Words or simple phrases united by conjunctions, when so closely connected in 
the sense that they are not intended separately to have any force in the sen- 
tence, may also be taken into the group ; as, — 

" Mount - thy good steed - and ■• thou and I - will meet him - on his way." 
In all cases where the conjunction does not demand a separate accent, it will 
be unaccented or only of secondary force. 

Examples of the Ninth Stage. 
Innumerable instances - could be adduced - to prove - the vast 
importance - which belongs - to an effective enunciation. Far 
greater numbers - of our preachers - fail - for want - of this - than 

- from any other cause ; a fact - so notorious - as to need - no 
proof - beyond common observation, - and - so important - as to 
demand - the attention, - not only - of the Professors, - but of the 
Committees - of all our Colleges. It is - too generally - the case, 

- that - no adequate culture - is bestowed - upon the speaking 
powers - of our students - from the beginning - to the end - of 
their course - of study. There is great assiduity - manifested - 
in giving them - a fulness - of matter, - but - far too little - in 
producing - an impressiveness - of manner. Every assistance - is 
granted - to make them - scholars, - philosophers, - and divines ; 
but, - as to good speaking, - for the acquisition - of this - they are 
left - pretty much - to themselves. A complete system - of minis- 
terial education - must - of necessity - include - some attention -to 
elocution, - and - which should commence - as soon - as a student - 
enters - college ; so that - by the time - he is put - upon the 



RHYTHM— GROUPING. 247 

preaching list, - he may have - some aptitude - for the manage- 
ment - of his voice, - and not have - his thoughts - diverted - 
then - from his matter - and his object - to his manner. He should 

- by that time - have acquired - a habit - of good speaking, - so as 
to be able - to practise it - with facility - and without study, The 
great objection - to lectures - on Elocution-is, - that they are apt 

- to produce - a pompous, - stiff, - and affected manner ; but- 
this - is an abuse - of the art, - the object - of which - should 
be - to cure - the vices - of a bad, - and to supply - the wants - of 
a defective enunciation, - and - to form - an easy, - natural, - and 
impressive delivery. — Bev. J. A. James. 

Every evil - to which - we do not succumb - is a benefactor. As 
the Sandwich Islander - believes - that the strength - and valour 

- of the enemy - he kills - passes - into himself, - so - we gain - the 
strength - of the temptation - we resist. 

The man - who has seen - the rising moon - break - out of the 
clouds - at midnight, - has been present - like an archangel - at 
the creation - of light - and of the world. 

The sun - hath - almost - reached - his journey's close, - 

The ray - he sheds - is gentle, - softly bright, - 

Pure - as the pensive light - from woman's eyes - 

When - kindled up - by retrospective thoughts, - 

Wandering - to former scenes - of love - and joy. 

But yet - there is a melancholy tinge - 

In that rich radiance : - and - a passing thought - 

Of things departed, - and of days gone by. - 

At such an hour - insensibly - will weave 

Itself - into the texture - of the scene. - 

Nothing - departs - alone : - the dying day - 

Bears - with it - many - to the last repose. - 

The setting sun, - so gorgeously - arrayed - 

In beams - of light, - and - curtained - round about - 

With clouds - steeped - in the rainbow's richest dyes, - 

So fair, - so full - of light - and living glory, - 

That - with the ancient Persian, - one might deem 

Him - God - of all - he looks upon - below — 

His setting - ushers in - a night - to some - 

Which -morning - shall not break. — Alex. Bethune. 

X. Unemphatic adverbs of time, place, interrogation, manner, &c., and gene- 
rally unemphatic adverbs qualifying verbs, and also simple adverbial phrases, may 



248 RHYTHM. 

l>c grouped with the word or clause before or after them, or with both, according 
to the degree of correlation, to form the next stage of clausing. «* He - who walk'- 
eth up" rightly - walk'eth su"rely." " Some" peo'ple - will nev'er learn" any- 
thing, - fortius' rea"son, - because' - they understand" everything too' soon'"." 
" It often hap"pens, - that those' - are' the best" peo'ple - whose' characters 
- have' been most' in"jured - by slan'der ; as', - we u' sually find' that" - to be' 
the swee'test fruit" - which' - the birds' - have' been peck"ing at." " 7" 
afterwards - learned' - the whole' sto"ry - of the deceased"." 

" Stretched' - on' the ground" awhile' - entranced' he lay'." 
" I' and my friends" - af terwards discov" ered - that' we hadbeen' deceived".^ 
" Spark' - of that' flame" perchance • of heav"enly birth', - 
Which' gleams", - but' warms" no mor'e - its cher'ished earth"." 
Evil, - be thou'" my' good" ! by thee', - at least' 
Divi'ded Em'pire, - with Heav'en's King" - I hold'. 
The adverb may frequently have the primary accent ; though, here, as in the 
cases before noticed, the qualifying word is only accented when some special 
reference to the qualifying circumstance renders it emphatic. 
Examples of the Tenth Stage. 
True eloquence - does not wait - for cool approbation. Like 
irresistible beauty, - it transports, - it ravishes, - it commands - 
the admiration - of all - who are within its reach. If it allows - 
time - to criticise, - it is not genuine. It ought - to hurry us-out 
of ourselves, - to engage, - and swallow up - our whole attention ; 
to drive everything - out of our minds, - besides the subject - it 
would hold forth, - and the point - it wants - to carry. The 
hearer - finds himself - as unable - to resist it - as to blow out - a 
conflagration - with the breath - of his mouth, - or - to stop - the 
stream - of a river - with his hand. His passions - are no longer 
his own. The orator - has taken - possession - of them ; and - 
with superior power - works them - to whatever he pleases. 
There is no earthly object - capable - of making - such various - 
and such forcible impressions - upon the human mind - as a con- 
summate speaker. In the artificial creations, - which flow - from 
the pencil - of a Raphael, - the critical eye - is indeed delighted - 
to a high pitch ; - but the ear - remains wholly unengaged - and 
unentertained. In the raptures - of Corelli, - Geminiani, - and 
Handel, - the flood - of pleasure - which pours - upon the ear - is 
almost too much - for human nature ; - but here - the eye - has 
not - its gratification. For the opera, - in which - action - is joined 

- with music, - in order - to entertain - the eye - at the same time 

- with the ear, - I must beg leave, - with all due submission - to 
the taste - of the great, - to consider it - a forced conjunction - of 



RHYTHM—GROUPING. 249 

two things, - which - nature - does not allow - to go together. It 
never will be other than unnatural - to see - heroes - fighting, - 
commanding, - threatening, - lamenting, - and making love - in 
the warblings - of an Italian song. It is only the elegant speaker 
-who can at once- regale -the eye -with the view -of its most 
amiable object, - the human form - in all its glory ; - the ear - with 
the original - of all music, - the understanding - with its proper - and 
natural food, - the knowledge - of important truths ; - and the ima- 
gination - with all - that - in nature - or in art - is beautiful, - 
sublime, - or wonderful. For - the orator's field - is the universe, - 
and - his subjects - are - all that is known - of God, - and his 
works ; - of superior natures - good - and evil, - and their works ; 
and - of terrestials, - and theirs. Whoever is proof - against such 
a display, - must have - neither eye, - nor ear, - nor passion, - nor 
imagination, - nor taste, - nor understanding. 

Friend, - thou must trust - in Him - who trod before - 

The desolate path - of life : - 

Must bear - in meekness, - as He meekly bore - 

Sorrow, - and pain, - and strife. 

Think - how the Son - of God - 

These thorny paths - hath trod ; - 

Think - how He longed - to go, - 

Yet tarried out - for thee, - the appointed woe. 

Think - of his weariness - in places dim, - 

Where no man - comforted, - or cared - for Him. - 

Think -of the blood-like sweat - 

With which - his brow - was wet, - 

Yet - how He prayed, - unaided - and alone, - 

In that great agony — " Thy will -be done !" 

Friend ! - do not thou despair, - 

Christ - from his heaven - of heavens - will hear - thy prayer. 

XL The word or simple clause constituting the object of an active or transitive 
verb, as — " To love virtue," — " to esteem an honourable man;" 1 and the word 
or clause forming the complement of an intransitive verb; as — " To lie in- 
terred, — to go home, — to grow disproportioned, — to become near-sighted,'''' 
4"C., may generally be united to the verb in the same oratorical word. 

In these cases,, the verb usually takes the secondary accent ; as in the sen- 
tence—' 1 To instruct' the ig"norant, — relieve' the nee'dy, — and com' fort 
the afflict" ed, are duties that fall in our way every day of our lives." But if this 
arrangement were altered, and the object or complemental word or clause made 

I i 



S50 RHYTHM— GROUPING. 

to precede the verb, the latter would take the primary accent ; as — " The ig'- 
norant to' instruct" — the nee'dy to' relieve" — the afflict' ed to com" fort,' 1 ' 1 S$c. 
The words of each group should be well weighed, and the accents given as 
the judgement may decide. 

Examples of the Eleventh Stage. 
There are instances enough - of natural defects - surmounted, - 
and eminent speakers - formed - by indefatigable diligence, - in 
spite - of them. Demosthenes - could not, - when he began to 
study rhetoric, - pronounce the first letter - of the name - of his 
art, - and - Cicero - was long-necked - and narrow-chested. But - 
diligent - and faithful labour - in what - one is in earnest about, - 
surmounts all difficulties. Yet - we are commonly enough dis- 
gusted - by public speakers - lisping - and stammering, - and - 
speaking - through the nose, - and - pronouncing the letter R - 
with the throat, - instead of the tongue, - and the letter S - like 
Th, - and screaming above, - or croaking below - all natural pitch - 
of human voice ; - some - mumbling, - as if - they were conjuring 
up spirits, - others - bawling - as loud - as the vociferous venders - 
of provisions - in London streets ; - some - tumbling out the words - 
so precipitately, - that no ear - can catch them ; - others - dragging 
them out - so slowly, - that - it is as tedious - to listen - to them - as - 
to count a great clock ; - some - have got a habit - of shrugging up 
their shoulders ; - others - of see-sawing - with their bodies, - some - 
backward and forward, - others - from side to side ; - some - raise 
their eyebrows - at every third word ; - some - open their mouths 
frightfully ; - others - keep their teeth - so close together - that one 
would think - their jaws - were set ; - some - shrivel all their features 
together - into the middle - of their faces ; - some - push out their 
lips, - as if - they were mocking the audience ; - others - hem - at 
every pause ; - and others - smack - with their lips, - and roll their 
tongues about - in their mouths, - as if - they laboured - under a 
continual thirst. All which bad habits - they ought - to have been 
cured of - in early youth, - or - put - into ways - of life - in which - 
they would have, - at least, - offended fewer persons. 
'Tis liberty alone - that gives -the flower - 
Of fleeting life - its lustre - and perfume ; - 
And - we are weeds - without it. All constraint - 
Except - what wisdom - lays - on evil men - 
Is evil : - hurts the faculties, - impedes 
Their progress - in the road - to science ; blinds 
The eyesight - of discovery ; and begets - 
In those - that suffer it - a sordid mind, - 



RHYTHM—GROUPING. 251 

Bestial, - a meagre intellect, - unfit - 
To be the tenant - of man's noble form. 

The bird - let loose - in eastern skies, - 

When hastening fondly - home, - 
Ne'er stoops - to earth - her wing, - or flies, - 

Where idle wanderers - roam ; - 
But - high she shoots - through air - and light, - 

Above all low delay, - 
Where nothing earthly - bounds her flight, - 

Or shadow - dims her way. 
So - grant me, - God, - from every stain- 

Of sinful passion - free, - 
Aloft - through virtue's purer air, - 

To steer my course - to Thee ! - 
No sin - to cloud, - no lure - to stay 

My soul - as - home - she springs ; - 
Thy sunshine - on her joyful way, - 

Thy freedom - on her wings. 

XII. Simple Relative and Restrictive clauses, — those chiefly which are intro- 
duced by Relative Pronouns or Prepositions, — may be added to the oratorical 
word, when they seem necessary to complete a portion of the sense ; as, — 
" Amu'sement - is' the hap"piness-0/*^ose' that can' not think".'''' 

In this stage, the nominative and verb may be united when they occur in 
secondary clauses, or when they have been previously either expressed or im- 
plied in the sentence ; and also when the verb precedes its nominative ; as — 
"Complaint' - is the lar'gest trib'"ute heav'en receives," - and' the since "rest 
part' of our devo"tion" " Canman conceive"- beyond' what God' can do"?" 
Examples or the Twelfth Stage. 

After the death of Mr M'Cheyne, - there was found - upon his 
desk - an unopened note - from one who had heard his last sermon, - 
to this effect : — " Pardon a stranger - for addressing to you a few 
lines. I heard you preach - last Sabbath evening, - and - it pleased 
God - to bless that sermon to my soul. It was not so much - what 
you said, - as your manner of saying it, - that struck me. I saw in 
you - a beauty of holiness - I never saw before." This - is only 
one instance - out of ten thousand, - in which - the earnestness of 
a preacher's manner - has secured that attention to his matter - 
which would not otherwise have been paid to it. The power 
of oratory - has its foundations - in the principles of our nature. 
It is vain to pretend - that matter - is, - or ought to be, - every- 



252 RHYTHM— GROUPING. 

thing, - and manner, - nothing. Manner - is, - so to speak, - the 
harbinger - and herald of matter, - summoning the faculties of 
the soul - to give audience to the truth to be communicated, - 
and - holding the mind - in a state of abstraction from all other 
subjects - that would divert the thoughts, - and prevent impression. 
True wit - is Nature to advantage dressed, — 
What oft was thought, - but - ne'er so well expressed ; — 
Something - whose truth, - convinced at sight, - we find, 
That gives us back - the image of our mind. - 
As shades - more sweetly recommend the light, - 
So - modest plainness - sets off sprightly wit. 
For - works - may have more wit than does them good, 
As bodies - perish through excess of blood. 

Some - dream - that they can silence when they will - 
The storm of passion, - and say, - " Peace, - be still !" 
But, - " Thus far, - and no farther !" - when addressed 
To the wild wave, or - wilder human breast, - 
Implies authority - that never can, - 
And never ought to be, - the lot of man. 

'Tis but a night, - a long - and moonless night : - 
We make the grave our bed, - and then - are gone. 
Thus - at the shut of even, - the weary bird - 
Leaves the wide air, - and - in some lonely brake - 
Cowers down, - and dozes till the dawn of day, - 
Then - claps his well-fledged wings, - and soars away. 

TO THE BUTTERFLY. 

Child of the sun ! - pursue thy rapturous flight, - 
Mingling with her thou lov'st - in fields of light, - 
And - where the flowers of paradise unfold, - 
Quaff fragrant nectar - from their cups of gold : - 
There - shall thy wings, - rich as an evening sky, - 
Expand and shut - with silent ecstasy. 
Yet, - wert thou once a worm, — a thing - that crept 
On the bare earth, - then - wrought a tomb - and slept. 
And - such - is man ! - soon - from his cell - of clay- 
To burst, - a seraph, - in the blaze of day. — Rogers. 



We have now ascended from the simplest combinations of words 
to their highest rhythmical arrangements in clauses : in doing so, 
we have laid open a series of exercises of the highest utility to 
students of Elocution. The various stages of the Art of Reading 



EMPHASIS. 253 

embrace every principle of Rhetorical Punctuation ; so that the 
study of any other system of pausing is by these grouping exer- 
cises rendered unnecessary.* 

Our scheme of Reading-Exercises should be useful, not only to 
the student of Elocution, but to the ordinary English learner, as an 
advanced lesson, and a revisal of grammatical principles, which 
may thus be fixed more practically upon the memory than by the 
ordinary exercises of the grammar class. 

With reference to the articulation of the various groups, it may 
be well to caution the reader, that the words in each group are 
not to be uttered in such an unbroken and dovetailed connexion 
as to admit of no separation of the organs from beginning to end ; 
but every principle of distinctness must be attended to. Initial 
vowels must have a clear commencement, independently of the 
word before them ; final vowels must be kept clear of the word 
after them ; and double articulations, or unfluent combinations, 
must be distinctly articulated without loss of any of their elements. 

Besides this verbal articulative nicety, there may be such a 
farther distinctiveness of utterance as to denote the lesser groups 
within the greater ones. This need not amount to a pause ; the 
slightest break of vocal continuity will serve the purpose. At 
the end of each group there should be a decided pause, with such 
a progression of voice as to indicate clearly whether what is to be 
next said modifies, or is in any way connected with, what has been 
uttered ; — and in what degree : or, whether what has been said 
is complete in itself, and independent on what succeeds. 

In case of Emphasis, words which are here the most closely con- 
nected are often separated : a break in the flow of grammatical 
articulation, being one of the most common and powerful means 
of expressing emphasis. 

We subjoin a few passages in illustration of the influence of 
Emphasis on grouping. They embrace instances of the disjunc- 
tion of almost every class of words which in the foregoing stages 
of clausing are united. The figures refer to the different stages. 

Emphatic Disjunctions. 
Pleads he in earnest ? Look upon his face : 
His eyes do drop no tears ; — his prayers are jest ; 
His words come from his month : ours from our breast ; 

* The Student is referred to the chapter on Modulation for an important 
and most effective principle of clausular arrangement, which may be considered 
as a further, and the final stage of Grouping. 



254 GROUPING— EMPHASIS. 

He* - prays but faintly, and would be denied ; 
We 8 - pray with heart and soul, and all beside. 

There are a sort of men whose visages, 
Do cream and mantle like a standing pond ; 
And do a wilful stillness entertain, 
With purpose to be dressed in an opinion 
Of wisdom, gravity, profound conceit, 
As who should say, I* - am* - Sir Oracle, 
And when I s - ope my lips, let no dog bark. 

0, Sir, your 4 - honesty is remarkable, 

Hear him, my lord ; he's 8 - wondrous condescending. 
Mark the 1 - humility of* - shepherd Norval. 

Here, under leave of Brutus and the rest, — 
For Brutus is an 1 - honourable man- 
So are they all, all honourable men, — 
Come I to speak in C&sar's funeral. 

He* - raised a mortal to the skies, 

She 5 - drew an angel down. 
This corruptible must put on 11 - incorruption, and this mortal, must put on 11 
immortality. 

If a Jew wrong a Christian, what is his 4 — humility ? Revenge. If a Chris- 
tian wrong a Jew, what should his 4 - sufferance be, by* - Christian 7 - example ? 
Why, revenge ! 

Still it cried, " Sleep no more !" to all the house, 

" Glamis hath murdered sleep, and therefore Cawdor 

Shall 6 - sleep 10 - no* - more." 

And Nathan said unto David, Thou 3 - art the man. 

Is there no place 
Left for repentance ? None for pardon left ? 
None left but by 8 - submission ; and that word 
Disdain forbids me. 

'Twere well, if here will end 
The misery : I deserved it, and would bear 
My own deservings : but this will not serve : — 
All that I eat, or drink, or shall beget, 
Is 8 — propagated curse ! 

Let me tell you, Cassius, you yourself 

Are much condemned to have 11 — an 1 itching palm ! 

Shall I bend low, and, in a bondman's key, 
With bated breath and whispering humbleness, 
Say this — 



GROUPING— EMPHASIS. 255 

" Fair Sir ! you? - spit on me, on Wednesday last ; 
You spurned me, such a day ; another time 
You called me 11 - dog ; and for these* - courtesies, 
I'll lend you thus much monies. 

" Well, how's the patient?" Bolus said. 

John shook his head. 
" Indeed ! hum ! t ha ! that's very odd ! 

He took the draught ?" John gave a nod. 
" Well ! how! what then? — speak out, you dunce." 
" Why, then," says John, "We 3 - shook him 10 - once." 

Not to detain you from a thing so strange, 
A gentleman who lives not far from 'Change, 
This week, in short, as all the alley knows, 
Taking a puke, has thrown up - lX three Black Crows. 

Did you, sir, throw up — " a black 7 - crow ? " Not I," 

" At the last I did 8 - throw up, and told my neighbour so, 
Something that was 8 - as black, sir,'as a crow." 

No man could better gild a pill, 

Or 9 make a bill, 
Or* mix a draught, or 9 bleed, or 9 blister ; 
Or draw a tooth out of your head, 
Or chatter scandal by your bed, 

Oi 9 spread a plaster. 

Emphasis is commonly considered to be merely an increased 
stress of voice or articulation ; but there is an Emphasis of Time, 
produced by a slower or quicker rate of utterance ; an Emphasis 
of Modulation, by a change, as it were, of the key-note to a higher 
or lower pitch ; an Emphasis of Inflexion, by a sweep of the voice 
upwards or downwards ; an Emphasis of Monotone, by a solemn, 
little-varying movement of the voice ; an Emphasis of Aspiration, 
by a sighing, husky, or choking expression of the voice; an 
Emphasis of Whisper even ; and, combined with nearly all these 
modes of giving prominence to words, the Emphasis of Pause, as 
we have seen — besides the Emphasis of Force or Stress, which is 
vulgarly considered the type of all Emphasis. 

The reason of the peculiarly emphatic power of Pauses, as ex- 
emplified in the passages above cited, is, that the mind naturally 
looks for the immediate sequence of those words which are neces- 
sary to give it a distinct and perfect impression ; and if a pause 
be made when the sense is so incomplete as not naturally to ad- 
mit of one, the attention will be roused, and expectation, and even 



256 GROUPING—EMPHASIS. 

curiosity, excited — on the watch for the consummation of the sense. 
In proportion to the degree of hiatus made, and the change of 
modulation, force, time, &c, assumed on the emphatic utterance, 
will be the degree of the emphasis, and the satisfactory fulfilment 
of the expectation raised. 

When the preparation for important emphasis is thus made 
before words which are too insignificant to be so dignified, we 
feel a vexatious disappointment on their utterance. This prin- 
ciple is therefore one of the most effective in giving point to any- 
thing comic or ludicrous. The hearer is tricked into expectation ; 
and, when a mountain seems in labour, lo ! there comes forth a 
mouse ! 

Thus in the following little piece, if all but the last two lines 
are feelingly read, we shall be inclined to buffet the reader when 
at last he comes to the climax. But indeed the reader himself 
may be more ludicrously deceived by this than the hearer. For 
this purpose the effect will be best secured by writing the lines so 
as to render a turn-over necessary for the denouement. 

THE CONFESSION. 

There's somewhat on my breast, Father, My kin are leal and true, Father, 

There's somewhat on my breast ! They mourn to see my grief ; 

The livelong day I sigh, Father ; But, oh ! 'tis not a kinsman's hand 

At night I cannot rest. Can give my heart relief. 

I cannot take my rest, Father, 'Tis not my love is false, Father, 

Though I would fain do so ; 'Tis not that she's unkind ; 

A weary weight oppresseth me, Though busy flatterers swarm around, 

The weary weight of woe ! I know her constant mind : 

'Tis not the lack of gold, Father, 'Tis not her coldness, Father, 

The lack of worldly gear ; That pains my labouring breast ; 

My lands are broad, and fair to see, 'Tis — that confounded cucumber 

My friends are kind and dear ; I ate, and can't digest. 

In concluding this part of our subject, we have only farther to 
remark, that the close of a period should be generally indicated 
in reading, by a closer rhythm, — a more frequent recurrence of 
accent — and less connectedness of grouping, than throughout the 
rest of the period. This enables the reader to impress the last 
words more strongly and with more point than could be generally 
maintained throughout a sentence ; secures his ease ; and prevents 
the awkwardness of a panting, breathless, " coming in ;" and, be- 
sides, imparts a manifest dignity to the conclusion. 



PART FIFTH. 



INFLEXION. 



The tones of the voice in Speech, have a characteristic formation 
which distinguishes them from the tones of the voice in song. 
The latter are continuations of given length on even musical sounds, 
— monotones ; and the former are inflexions of greater or less ex- 
tent, upwards or downwards from the tone on which they begin. 
The progression of the scale in singing is by a bound or leap over 
the interval from note to note, so tf that no intermediate sound 
is formed between those which are the object of effort ; and the 
progression of speaking-tones is by a sweep of the voice over all 
the intervals, so that every intermediate sound is touched in the 
progress of the inflexion. 

Sometimes an inflected formation of voice is used in singing ; 
and it is, especially in plaintive passages, productive of fine effect ; 
and sometimes a degree of the monotonous formation is employed 
in speech ; but rarely, — and then chiefly for the expression of 
solemn or plaintive sentiments. But a perfect monotone has no 
place in speech, and an ordinary speaking-inflexion is never found 
in song. The similar sounds which we have stated to be occa- 
sionally employed, may be properly called Inflected Monotones : 
they are prolongations of a commencing tone, finished by inflexion. 
The three modes of vocal progression may be analogically repre- 
sented thus, 

Monotone — Song. Inflected Monotone. Inflexion — Speech. 

All spoken sounds, however abrupt, have, correctly, the in- 
flected formation ; though an ear unaccustomed to very accurate 
observation might not readily detect it in the little tittles of sound 
heard in many of our syllables, — it, at, ate, up, &c. But suffi- 
ciently close attention will discover inflexion in the shortest, as 
well as in the longest of our sounds. Those prolonged monotones 
which are heard in what is called a sing-song delivery, are, there- 

Kk 



•25S INFLEXION. 

fore, barbarisms ; they belong neither to speech nor song : they 
are a sort of recitative, passionless, senseless, and unnatural, to 
which, nevertheless, good sentiments are often chanted and 
drawled by worthy men. 

Animated conversation is the most inflected kind of speech, and 
the language of solemn warning or of prayer, the least inflected. 
Reading, and speaking from memory, are generally much less 
inflected, and therefore less natural, agreeable, and impressive, 
than conversation and extemporaneous delivery ; and that reading 
must be considered the best which approaches most nearly in its 
tones to conversational and extemporal variety. 

Even the most effective speakers, — those who are perfectly free 
from any drawling, tune, or sing-song, — can seldom give utterance 
to a studied address with the same spontaneity of tone and man- 
ner which characterizes a perfectly extemporary delivery ; yet such 
might easily do so, or at least make a very close approximation to 
this, by a little art, and by art of such a nature that none need 
hesitate to practise it ; for it would infallibly tend to " hide itself," 
and so fulfil the conditions of artistic perfection : — " the Art itself 
is Nature." 

But our observations on this the highest attainment in delivery 
would be premature in this place, and perhaps, in some degree, 
unintelligible, without the necessary explanations and illustrations 
of the mechanism and application of inflexions, which we shall, 
therefore, in the first place offer. 

The subject of Inflexion has been more fully treated by most 
authors than any other department of Elocution ; and the mass 
of Rules, Observations, and Examples which they have accumu- 
lated, have so overloaded the simple natural principles that lie at 
the bottom of all genuine rules, that not one student in fifty can 
discover them. The consequence too often is, that Elocutionary 
students either throw up the study, in disgust at the stiff unna- 
tural mannerism 'it seeks to impart ; or, less fortunately, per- 
haps, imbibing something of its principles, awkwardly endea- 
vour their adoption, in ignorance of a better directory ; or else, 
judging "Elocution" to be, what it too often really seems, a thing 
of no fixed principles, but, regulated only by taste or caprice, 
form systems of their own, founded on some favourite model, or 
on a combination of incongruous models ; and thus gradually swell 
the ranks of tuneful ranters, and level drawlers. 



INFLEXION. 259 

Elocution, according to the great majority of system-makers, 
appears to be nothing else than the management of Inflexion. 
Ask them " what is the chief point in Delivery ?" Repeat, and 
reiterate the question. The answer is still the same, " Inflexion ! " 
The ancients, who better understood the subject, thought other- 
wise ; and their oft-cited foreman Demosthenes, the most honour- 
able example of excellence attained by persevering effort, and in 
spite, too, of habitual and physical drawbacks, said otherwise, and 
acted on a very different principle. When he determined to 
qualify himself for oratory, he wisely and rationally began with 
his articulation. This is recorded for our example ! and when 
we imitate it, we, like him, shall find a certain and direct way to 
natural eloquence, whatever may be the sphere in which it is to 
be exerted. 

Oratory was of old a very comprehensive subject, and its study 
was the labour of a life. It included the arts of Logic, Rhetoric, 
and almost every department of general knowledge, and mental 
and moral discipline, as well as Pronunciation, or what we now 
call Elocution or Delivery. Hoary hairs were considered indis- 
pensable to the consummate orator, whose laborious preparations 
were supposed to require the length and vigour of the youth and 
prime of life. Consistently with this, Oratory was emblematized 
under the figure of an Old Man ; threads of amber issuing from 
his lips, and winding into the ears of gaping auditors. Our orators 
expect to jump into the rostrum, and oratorical ability, at once ; 
and without preparation even for the first and most indispensable 
requisite of public speaking, — Articulation. Our learned men 
affect to despise the very name of oratory. May not the reason 
be, — they are not orators ? They feel not, nor know the power 
of Eloquence. They can prepare the beautiful anatomy of a 
discourse, or declamation, but to animate it with the voice, the 
look, the action of natural utterance, is beyond their skill ; it falls 
lifeless from their hands : or, if it struggle into breath, its life is 
that of the crawling insect, spumily trailing along beneath us, 
and not that of the bold soaring eagle, elevating the eye into 
dazzling regions, and towering among scenes of grandeur and 
sublimity. 

Demosthenes, in the zenith of his oratorical greatness, declared 
the most important part of a speaker's study to lie in Delivery. 
Matter was practically confessed to be much, but manner he, from 



260 INFLEXION. 

experience, pronounced to be more. And what part of Delivery 
he considered of the first importance, his own procedure showed, 
— articulation, distinctness, fluency, energy of utterance. How 
yery small a part of oratory Inflexion is, and how small a part of 
a speaker's study it is worthy to be, cannot fail to be felt by every 
practical orator at the present time, as it undoubtedly must have 
been by the matchless " thunderer" of ancient Greece. 

The leading error of Elocutionists consists in this, that, over- 
looking the paramount importance of general principles, they enter 
at once on a series of rules for the minutise of Elocutionary study. 
Thus, without any explanation of the mechanism, extent, or 
general functions of the inflexions, they begin at once to teach 
their application to sentences of various construction : and in 
laying down rules, they seem more desirous to teach their pupils 
to inflect, than to reflect. The principles which regulate the ap- 
plication of inflexions are so simple, so natural and consistent, 
that no reflecting pupil can fail to apprehend and apply them, 
almost immediately, when intelligibly explained. On the proper 
mechanism of the inflexions depends much of the melody and 
variety, as well as the appropriate expressiveness to sense and 
sentiment of the voice. 

It has been well remarked of the system of Mr Walker, — the 
founder of the Inflexion School of Elocution, — that " no system 
could have been invented better adapted to please all parties ; as 
every one is at liberty to make use of those intervals which habit 
has rendered easy to him in his common accent. Thus the teacher 
residing in Cork, or Dublin, or Belfast, in Glasgow, Edinburgh, 
or Inverness, in the East or in the West, the North or the South 
of England, can use the system of Walker, read according to his 
rules, though not one of them may agree with another in regard 
to the interval or the extent of the inflexion ; and while, in fact, 
they are merely teaching their own manner to the pupil." 

Attempts have been made to reduce the inflexions of the speak- 
ing voice to accurate musical measurement, and to form a system 
of notation to enable one to read the tones, as well as the words 
of an author, as is done in singing ; but no success has hitherto 
attended these systems, nor do we think it ever can. Twenty 
good readers may each differ from the others in their delivery of 
a selected passage, in regard to the extent, and often, even, the 
direction of the inflexions ; and yet all bring out the full expressive- 



INFLEXION. 261 

ness of the words. There must be points in which all coincide ; but 
such a latitude of inflexion may there be, and so much of habit 
and idiocrasy is there in the wavings of the voice, that, even were 
it possible to note the evanescent sounds with sufficient accuracy, 
no good speaker could be fettered to the precise tones of another, 
perhaps of opposite temperament, without losing the higher guid- 
ance of his own mind. His thought and utterance are so asso- 
ciated, that, if he think, he cannot attend to a close uniformity of 
tones ; and if he follow a minute directory for his voice, he will 
be unable to think. We do not, therefore, propose to enter into 
a minutely musical analysis of inflexions, but to speak of their 
mechanism, extent, and application, on proportional and very 
general principles, and with reference, chiefly, to their association 
with particular states of mind and feeling. 

MECHANISM OF THE INFLEXIONS. 

The tones of the speaking voice are, we have said, always in 
acute or grave progression : they do not dwell monotonously on 
any note. There are but two modes of vocal progression, — namely, 
upwards and downwards in the musical scale, — and, consequently, 
there are but two simple inflexions. Each inflexion has an opening 
force and fulness, from which it tapers softly to its acute or grave 
termination. The beginning of the inflexion is therefore the em- 
phatic part, — that which strikes the ear most forcibly : and, as 
the inflexions are named "rising" or "falling," from their pro- 
gression upwards or downwards, without reference to the pitch of 
their commencing note, some confusion often arises at first between 
the name and the sound, from their apparent opposition, in abrupt 
and emphatic inflexions. For, the more emphatic an inflexion is, 
the lower it begins when it is called rising, and the higher it begins 
when it is named falling. 

To illustrate this, let us assume a scale of 7 points from which 
inflexions may be pitched. A cultivated voice will be capable of 
a much greater variety, but these will be sufficient for our illus- 
trations. Let us represent these 7 radical points by a notation 
in the spaces of a staff of 8 lines. Thus, — 

Rising. _^ Falling 



|7^ :;:::: 


1 




*s 


|6 ^ : 


1 




*s 


|5 ^ 


1 




#v 


4 i, : 


1 




* s 


\A ±, 


1 




•s 


12 ~,f 


1 




^\ 


H ^ 


1 


«w^ 





262 INFLEXION. 

No. 1, represents the lowest tone from which a rise can be made : 
No. 7, the highest from which a fall can be commenced ; and No. 
4, the middle tone of the voice. 

To make an extended rising inflexion, as in the indignant 
utterance of the pronoun I, — " I — an itching palm /" the voice 
must begin considerably below the middle tone, to prevent its 
squeaking and cracking beyond manageable limits as the inflexion 
rises ; and to form an emphatic falling inflexion, as in the strongly 
assertive, boastful utterance of the same word, — u Be buried quick 
with her, and so will I," — the inflexion must begin considerably 
above the middle tone, or it will not have space to descend without 
croaking hoarsely beyond vocalizing limits. 

In proportion, then, to the emphasis of an inflexion, will be the 
distance of its radical point above or below the middle tone of the 
vocal register. An ordinary and unimpassioned inflexion may be 
carried to as high or low a vanishing-point as the most emphatic 
and passionate ; but the actual length of inflexion will generally 
be greater according to its passionate force ; the increase being 
produced by elevation or depression of the intensive part, — the 
beginning of the inflexion. 

This principle is of much importance to public speakers, whose 
general ignorance of it, evidenced by their strained voices screaming 
up an inflexion to the cracking point, or falling into voicelessness 
or whisper, is, doubtless, in great part, owing to the almost uni- 
versal silence of Elocutionary books upon the subject. 

In very short syllables, the terms " Rising" and " Falling" seem 
at first sight to be completely misapplied ; for, as the quantity 
cannot be increased to accommodate the inflexions, the voice is 
strongly depressed, with a barely perceptible succeeding elevation, 
when the inflexion is emphatically rising ; and it is abruptly ele- 
vated, without material on which to descend, when it forms an 
emphatic falling inflexion. 

Our notation of the Inflexions is founded on this principle : — 
The Rising Mark ( f .) we place below the accented vowel ; which 
indicates to the eye that the inflexion is commenced below the 
middle tone : and the Falling Mark (»s ) we place above the 
accented vowel, to denote that the inflexion is commenced above 
the middle tone : 

Thus, envy, pronounced ~~ °™^ Pronounced ?L_ 



INFLEXION. 263 

In some cases the inflexions do not range from below above, or 
from above below the middle tone ; but are confined in their 
whole extent above or below it. The falling inflexion must very 
frequently be thus performed below the middle tone, to give per- 
fect completeness and conclusiveness to an utterance that is not 

emphatic. The notation of these inflexions is envy, enmity, &c, 
envy, enmity, &c, pronounced, — 



Middle Tone. 



mi 



When a speaker's inflexions are habitually confined below the 
middle tone, we say his voice is " low set;" when above the middle 
tone, we say he has a high, voice. An effective reader or speaker 
should be able to take a varied range both above and below the 
middle tone. 

Let the student exercise his voice in forming the simple in- 
flexions with as much variety as possible. Let him produce at 
least three or four degrees of pitch, above and below the middle 
tone, and carry each inflexion to different degrees of acuteness 
or gravity. The long vowels and diphthongs 

I 3-1 »4 7 7-1 7-13 8 9-8 10 10-1 11-8 12-13 13 

e, a, eh, ah, i, ou, ir, ur, aw, oi, ore, oh, oo. 

and syllables compounded of any of the vowels with the liquids L, 
M, N, ng, will furnish the best inflective material for this exercise. 

The student will be assisted in acquiring a natural flexibility 
of voice by noting that the rising turns are expressive of uncer- 
tainty, interrogation, surprise, or plaintive exclamation : and that 
those of the falling formation are of a positive, dogmatical, man- 
datory nature. If therefore habit, or a defective ear, render the 
mechanism of the inflexions difficult, let the student throw passion 
into them, and nature will help him out with the strong inflexions, 
which he has only to soften and reduce, in order to make all the 
lesser degrees. 

The tables of syllabic quantities (pages 67 to 69 ) should now 
be practised with these two inflexions, beginning with the longest 
syllables, and taking the shortest last, because their abruptness 



2(U INFLEXION. 

renders their inflection difficult of execution as well as observation. 
By reading each syllable with both inflexions in contrast — the 
rising first — full command over them will soon be attained. 

The table of words at pages 70-72 should next be inflectively prac- 
tised. Being all accented on the first syllable, they are of the 
easiest class. The practice of them for a short time should 
render the ear and organs sufficiently accustomed to the principle 
of simple inflexion, to enable the student to take his next exercise 
on words of various accentuation. 

In order to acquire the great charm of a melodious variety of 
inflexion, let the following principles be carefully attended to. 

The emphatic part of each inflexion must be thrown on the 
accented syllable of the word : and in order to give it the more 
obvious elevation or depression, as well as for the sake of a melo- 
dious intonation, any unaccented syllable before the accent must 
be pronounced with a preparatory opposition of inflexion. Mate- 
rial for practice will be found in the columns of verbs at page 223. 
To give these words the rising inflexion, begin the unaccented 
syllable on or above the middle tone ; and to give them the fall- 
ing inflexion, pronounce the unaccented syllable below the middle 
tone : the accented syllable being then struck forcibly in the 
opposite direction, — to the point from which it is to proceed up- 
wards or downwards — the words will have their highest inflective 
effect. Thus :— 

Rising. 

V. de y ? 

com 1 

Mi ddle o y aa n d? e 

Tone be g n v 

"■* si u i 

*** PO 8 

•-*" ri 

: *^ 

Marked obey, assign ; compound, derisively. 



•»v tre d 

»s co e 

Middle wa r m d 



Tone. 






e ] 



ex a 

de 



y 



Marked away, accord ; extremes, decidedly. 
The words containing two or more accents, tabled from page 224 
to 226, should now be practised on the same principle. When the 



INFLEXION. 265 



secondary accent is on the first syllable, let the preparatory rise 
or fall be well marked on it, but distinguish the primary accent 
by a distinctly greater force of inflexion. Thus: — 

Rising. Falling. 



su ^ 

per dant dis 



Middle in o 

Tone. ent der ri 

an ing 



Marked superintendant, disobediently, understanding, acrimonious. 

When the word begins with an unaccented syllable, the voice 
marks on it a preparatory opposition of inflexion, as in the dis- 
syllables before noticed. Words of this syllabication, then, have 
three vocal turns :— the leading inflexion on the accent, is pre- 
pared for by the secondary, which is itself introduced by a pre- 
paratory turn on the antecedent syllable. Thus : 

•fs ; Marked 

^ cation. 

Middle i dia impenetrability, 

Tone. im ••£ 

qualifi , .^ / 

bmt ? *" disqualification. 

,»? 

When the word has two secondary accents, the one before the 
primary will take the preparatory opposition of inflexion, and the 
first secondary will, similarly, take a preparatory inflexion for the 
other. Thus : 

s*^ Marked 

navi •*- circumnavigation, 

Middle incontro .+s 



Tone. circum 

gation ? verti incontrovertibility. 

Or, another perfectly admissible mode of inflecting such words, 
is, to give the first secondary accent the preparatory rise or fall for 
the primary, and the intermediate secondary a more limited in- 
flexion in the same direction as the first ; beginning either on the 
same note on which the first inflexion terminated, or thrown back 
a little. Thus:— 



»s bility 

anti 

Middle peati 



Marked 
antipestilential, 



Tone. 



muuiea <9s 

lentil incom * incommunicability. 

Ll 



266 INFLEXION. 

Tho latter arrangement of inflexions makes the first secondary 
accent more emphatic than the second : the former arrangement 
gives the greater degree of prominence to the second secondary 
accent. 

When the primary accent precedes the secondary, the latter 
must be inflected in the same direction as the former : the in- 
flexion being commenced either on the same tone with which the 
primary inflexion terminated, or thrown a degree backwards. 
Thus : 



Middle i 


Rising 

tive, 
i ca 


or 


tive 


me 
d 


Fatting. 

me 

d ta 


Tone. d 
b 

a 




d 
b 
ab 


ca 


ita 
tive, 


i 
or tive 



Any number of unaccented syllables after the accent, must 
follow the direction of the accentual inflexion, rising or falling, 
without retrogression, from the pitch of the accented syllable, 
unless the speaker purposely reverses the progression, in order to 
form a wave or circumflex. Thus : 

Rising. Falling. 

ly ly gen er 

Middle Tone. al ri er ar 






er tra al 

lit bi ly 



Marked literally, arbitrarily ; generally, literarily. 

We have been careful to show how the simple inflexions are 
applied to words of various accentual construction ; because the 
principles which regulate their arrangement on the syllables of 
single words, are the same as those which govern their application 
to the verbal constituents of phrases and sentences. 

The principles which regulate the expressive use of the in- 
flexions will be found stated at page 270 ; and marked exercises 
will be found in the concluding section of this volume. The 
mechanism of the inflexions must always be correspondent to the 
principles exemplified in the above notations. 

Extent of the Inflexions. 
We have chosen for our illustration of the mechanism of the 
inflexions, (page 261,) a staff of eight lines, that the seven degrees 
of inflexion noted upon them may represent the seven musical 



INFLEXION. 267 

intervals of the second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh, and 
octave. But since these intervals are not all composed of whole 
tones, an alteration of the staff would be necessary to represent 
them with proportional accuracy. 

The musical student of speech may easily measure the inter- 
vals of his inflexions with the help of an instrument, by sounding 
the extreme notes of each interval, and sweeping his voice from 
one to the other ; and he will find our symbols applicable for a 
strictly correct notation, if he think the subject worthy of so 
minute attention. We have contented ourselves with such an ar- 
rangement as speaks to the eye, without carefully consulting 
accuracy to the ear. 

The following staff shows the musical succession of intervals in 
the octave. The broad spaces represent full tones, and the 
narrow spaces semitones. The notation shows a rise and a fall 
through each of the intervals. 



7 th 



6th 



5th 



4th 



3rd 



2nd 



This is the major mode of the diatonic scale. The intervals 
of the minor mode differ only in the extent of the first third, which 
consists of but one tone and a half, or three semitones, instead of 
two tones, or four semitones, as above. The interval of the minor 
third has a plaintively querulous effect ; and the interval of the 
semitone is the universal expression of all ordinary plaintive sen- 
timents. The student should practise inflexions on these latter 
intervals in order to acquire a naturally effective modulation of 
plaintive passages. 

To the unmusical student it will be necessary to say something 
for his direction in the formation of chromatic or plaintive in- 
flexions. Let him take as a key-sound the cry of "Fire" which, 
as has been observed by Dr Rush, is universally uttered on the 
interval of a semitone. 

Throw natural feeling into this word, and then, alternately with 
it, pronounce, with the same inflexion, the vowels, or any words of 



268 INFLEXION. 

fear or sadness, and the ear will soon learn to recognise, and the 
voice to produce, the semi-tonic interval. 

«^ Fire 

•s Fire 

•v Fire 

Middle Fire 



Tone. 



ah ! alas ! well a day ! 
ah me ! farewell ! adieu J 



The ordinary inflection of unemphatic words is through the in- 
terval of a second — a full tone — or if plaintive, of a semitone. The 
interval of a third is the common extent of a suspensive or con- 
clusive turn ; or, if emphatic, the interval of a fifth. The interval 
of the minor third is that of plaintive exclamation and interro- 
gation ; and the language of strong passion is generally uttered on 
the interval of the octave. 

When, at the conclusion of a sentence, the voice falls only one 
tone, or through the interval of a second, the effect upon the 
hearer is satisfactory enough with respect to the completion of 
sense ; but it is at the same time unsatisfactory, as leading him 
to expect the addition of something more, by way of illustration 
or enforcement. The inflexion is inconclusive and continuative ; 
and, if nothing more be added, the hearer will feel disappointed, 
and unconvinced, however strong and convincing may have been 
the speaker's language. The tone is inconfident, — expressive of 
uncertainty and indecision, and therefore cannot carry conviction 
to a hearer. An utterance that is meant to be conclusive, cannot 
fall less than through the interval of a third ; and in proportion 
to its emphasis, positiveness, and passion, it will range from that 
to a fifth or an octave. 

When, at the end of a clause or sentence, the voice rises through 
one tone only, or the interval of a second the inflexion is fully 
expressive of incompleteness of sense, but it does not lead the 
hearer to anticipate the immediate consummation of the sense ; the 
tone is progressive, not preparatory. A rise which is intended to 
excite the hearer's attention to the conclusive utterance to be next 
spoken, cannot be less than through the interval of a third ; and 
in proportion to its emphasis of suspension — its querulousness and 
passion, it will range from that to the extent of a fifth or octave. 

Our notation of the simple inflexions may be understood to 
represent these musical intervals. Thus, 2 £?> '?*}* ™}> .^ h > 



INFLEXION. 269 

We do not profess, however, to be able by these marks to denote 
the inflexions with strict musical accuracy. We have no means 
of showing the infinite variety of radical points from which the 
well-proportioned inflexions of an effective speaker will be pitched. 
We only aim at representing degrees of inflexion which are 
relatively greater or less, and the radical points of which are 
above or below an assumed middle tone of voice. 

Compound Inflexions. — Circumflexes or Waves. 

The two modes of vocal progression united on one syllabic 
utterance, or on the syllables of one accentual utterance, form 
those expressive compound inflexions, called circumflexes, or more 
accurately, as Dr Rush has named them, waves. These vocal 
waves are very common in all natural speaking. They are 
capable of much variety by the different proportion of their parts. 
A strong rise (of course beginning low) may be united to a fall 
of a semitone or an octave, or of any extent ; and a full downward 
sweep may be blended with an equal variety of rising intervals. 

The following notation analytically illustrates the mechanism of 
the Wave, and the use of the typographic character by which we 
represent this vocal turn. — 

Rising Wave, - Falling Wave. 



Middle ar ry hou ty de 

lone. ra es in ( 

bit 



quia 



lib ly ex ite de 



Marked arbitrary, honesty, indeed ; liberally, exquisite, indeed. 

The mark for the Rising Wave is placed above the accented 
syllable, because the inflexion begins and ends high : and the 
mark for the Falling Wave is placed below the accent, because 
the inflexion begins and ends low. These compound inflexions, 
like the simple ones, always commence on the accented syllable, 
and the same principles of preparatory inflexion which we have 
exemplified in treating of the simple inflexions, apply to the ut- 
terance of words or passages containing these compound turns. 
(See pages 2U and 265). 

As we directed the student to practise the simple inflexions in 
their most extensive ranges at first, and by the association with 
them of the feelings which they naturally express, so, also, we 
recommend him to practise the mechanism of these compound 
inflexions in their most emphatic forms at first, and with the 
association of those sentiments which they naturally express. 

The circumflexed or waved inflexions generally give to language 



270 INFLEXION. 

an allusive or referential expressiveness, or add to it a meaning 
which the words do not literally convey. Thus, the Rising Wave 
is used for Suggestive Emphasis — it is the appropriate intonation 
of inuendo ; — and the Falling wave for Positive Emphasis —with 
an allusive or referential effect. This vocal progression is the 
intonation of derision and irony. The Rising Wave is used 
suggestively, when Brutus says to Cassius — 

'• For / can raise no money by vile means :" 
it insinuates and hints at, rather than openly expresses, an accu- 
sation. The Falling Wave positively and unmistakeably points 
an accusation, as when 

" Nathan said unto David, ' Thou art the man V 



» >» 



As a general principle, it may be affirmed that words intended 
to be understood literally, should be inflected with simple turns — 
which are the invariable intonations of candour, sincerity, and 
artlessness : — while words to be accepted in some peculiar, figu- 
rative, — or with some added — sense, require the compound turns, 
which are the natural intonation of artifice. Figurative language 
of every kind abounds with circumflexes. 

In the following sentence, the Rising and Falling Waves are 
brought naturally in contrast : — 

" Oh ! indeed ! if you said so — then I meant so." 

If we supply the words referentially implied by these circumflexes, 
we may bring into contrast the simple and compound inflexions of 
each class. Thus : — 

" Oh ! indeed ! if you said so, and not so, then I meant so, and 

not so.' 

The student should practise this waving formation of voice on 
vowels, on syllables, on words, and on sentences, until he is able 
to produce several varieties of each kind from the same commen- 
cing note, with different degrees of force and expressiveness, — 
plaintively and otherwise. In his practice, let him bear in mind 
that the circumflexes are merely combinations of the simple in- 
flexions. The first or emphatic part of a Rising Wave is a falling 
turn : — this conveys a positive effect : — and the concluding part 
is a rise, which qualifies the positiveness of the first turn by its 
doubtful and querulous expressiveness. Thus ; — 






INFLEXION. 271 

[{ ! sir, your honesty is remarkable !" 
The first or emphatic part of a Falling Wave is a rising turn, 
the effect of which is appellatory, or interrogative ; and the sub- 
sequent fall which finishes the inflexion adds to this an expression 
of positiveness and conviction. Thus :— 

" So, then, you are the author of this conspiracy against me ? 
It is to you I am indebted for all the mischief that has befallen me." 



APPLICATION OF THE INFLEXIONS. 

Governing the application of the vocal inflexions to sentences, 
we find principles equally simple with those which we have shown 
to regulate their mechanism, and their arrangements on syllables. 
As all inflexions may be resolved into two kinds, — upward and 
downward, — so all rules for their application may be resolved 
into two corresponding, general, 

Fundamental Principles. 
The rising progression connects what has been said 
with what is to be uttered, or with what the speaker 
vjishes to be implied or supplied by the hearer ; and 
this, with more or less closeness, querulousness, and 
passion, in proportion to the force and extent of the rise. 
The falling progression disconnects what has been said 
from whatever may follow ; and this with more or less 
completeness, exclusiveness, and passion, in proportion 
to the force and extent of the fall. 



The rising inflexion is, thus, 
invariably associated with what 
is incomplete in sense ; or, if ap- 
parently complete, dependent on, 
or modified by what follows ; with 
whatever is relative to something 
expressed, or to be implied ; and 
with what is doubtful, interroga- 
tive, or supplicatory. 

The rising inflexion is thus, also, the natural intonation of all 
attractive sentiments — love, admiration, pity, &c. ; and the falling, 
of all repulsive sentiments — anger, hatred, reproach, contempt, &c. 



The falling inflexion is, thus, 
invariably associated with what 
is complete and independent in 
sense, or intended to be received 
as such ; with whatever is positive 
and exclusive ; and with what is 
confidently assertive, dogmatical, 
or mandatory. 



272 INFLEXION. 

The degree in which any sentence either necessarily conveys 
these sentiments, or is intended to express or insinuate them, 
corresponds to the degree in which the inflexions move upwards 
or downwards ; the intensity of the feeling to be expressed being 
denoted by the force and distance from the middle tone of the 
commencement, or emphatic part of the inflexion. 

The shorter ranges of inflexion, or sometimes extensive degrees, 
— but feeble, and, consequently, unemphatic, — are employed as 
preparatory to the principal inflexions of a sentence. The melody 
of speech requires that every emphatic inflexion should be pre- 
ceded by an inflexion in the opposite mode — a rise before a fall, 
a fall before a rise. The mechanism of the inflexions explains the 
reason of this : the rise before the fall carries the voice up towards 
the elevated pitch from which the fall begins ; and the fall before 
the rise takes the voice, without the gracelessness of a jerk, 
downwards towards the low point from which the rise is to be 
commenced. 

The inflexions are thus always in contrast ; the sense or feeling 
dictating the direction of the principal inflexions, and these regu- 
lating that of the subordinate ones : but not their extent; for this 
is under the sole guidance of the reader's taste and judgment. 
The extent of the inflexions remains the test of his refinement of 
ear, and cultivation of voice, as well as of his power of discrimi- 
nating the nicer shades of sense and sentiment. 

We shall now examine the various kinds of sentences and 
members of sentences which Elocutionists have ranged under 
rules multitudinous, and endeavour to show in all of them 
the working of the two general inflective principles which we have 
stated. If we can discover that these are the fundamental prin- 
ciples of all the rules — that every natural direction is but an 
application of one of them ; then, the simplest and easiest way 
to learn to apply the sentential rules of Elocutionists, will be to 
study alone these our rulers of rules. We shall take first those 
sentences or clauses which terminate with a rising inflexion. 
These are, according to Mr Walker and his followers, the first 
part of a compact sentence; the penultimate member of a sentence; 
negative sentences ; concessive sentences ; the first part of an an- 
tithesis ; questions commencing with a verb ; words repeated or 
echoed. 



INFLEXION. 273 

Rising Inflexions. 
The First Part of a Compact Sentence. — Compact sentences are those 
which do not admit of division into portions in themselves complete, and ex- 
pressive of perfect sense. Mr Walker divides compact sentences into direct and 
inverted periods ; and while he dictates the same inflexion at the end of the first 
part of each, manages to make for them four Rides, and one Exceptive Ride. 
The first class of direct periods consists of those whose two principal construc- 
tive parts begin with correspondent conjunctions. 
Example: — " As we cannot discern the shadow moving along the dial-plate, 

so the advances we make in knowledge are only perceived by the distance 

gone over." 
Here, at the end of the first part, the sense is obviously incomplete, and our 
fundamental principle is itself the rule. The second class are those periods whose 
Jirst part only commences with a conjunction ; but in all the examples given, 
— " As in my speculations" Sfc. ; " If impudence prevailed as much" fyc. ; 
" If I have any genius" fyc. ; " If after surveying the whole earth at once" 
S^c. the correspondent conjunctions, " so" or " therefore" u then" &c. are 
plainly to be understood ; and this rule, founded merely on a common ellipsis, 
is but a repetition of the first. 

The third class includes those sentences which commence with a participle — 
of the present or past tense ; to which Mr Ewing adds, under a separate Rule, 
sentences depending on adjectives ; but in these also our fundamental principle 
furnishes the rule, as the sense must be incomplete at the end of the participial 
or adjective clause. 
Examples : — " Having existed from all eternity — God, through all eternity must 

continue to exist." 

" Destitute of the favour of God, — you are in no better situation, with all 

your supposed abilities, than orphans left to wander in a trackless desert." 
To his third rule Mr Walker states the following exception : — " When the last . 
word of the first part of these sentences requires the strong emphasis, the falling 
inflexion must be used instead of the rising." The very modified fall which we 
have denominated continuative* is the only falling inflexion that would not 
be altogether inadmissible here. Notwithstanding the numerous book-followers 
of the theory, we have no hesitation in saying that this rule is a mistake. It 
would have been correct, had it stated that the clause required the falling as 
well as, but not instead of, the rising inflexion ; that is, a rising circumflex : 
but it is then no exception to the general rule. The connexion in sense demands 
a rising, connective inflexion ; and by means of the wave, the strong emphasis 
may also be expressed without interfering with the final progression. 
Example : — " Hannibal, being frequently destitute of money and provisions, 

with no recruits of strength in case of ill-fortune, and no encouragement 

even when successful ; it is not to be wondered at that his affairs began at 
length to decline." 

Page 268. 

M m 



274 INFLEXION. 

The next and last kind of compact sentence is what Mr Walker calls the " In- 
verted period ;" that is, a sentence, " the first part of which forms perfect sense 
by itself, but is modified or determined in its signification by the latter part." 
The following, among other sentences of similar construction, are the 
Examples : — " Gratian very often recommends the fine taste — as the utmost 
perfection of an accomplished man." — " Persons of good taste expect to 
be pleased — at the same time they are informed." 

In these examples, the first parts might certainly be used as independent 
sentences ; but since they do not, in this connexion, form independent sense, 
the rising inflexion is required by the fundamental principle, and the rule is un- 
necessary. In the second instance, the word pleased being emphatic, from its 
antithesis with informed, is in the same predicament as the word successful in 
the second sentence preceding ; and to give it emphasis without loss of connec- 
tion, it must be pronounced either with a continuativefall, or with a rising wave. 

The Penultimate Member. — A rising inflexion is directed by Mr Walker 
to be always given to "the member of a sentence immediately preceding the 
last." This principle is the subject of two Rules and several Exceptions. Of 
what value can the rules be when such a sentence as the following has to be 
noted as an exception ? 

"I must therefore desire the reader to remember, that by the pleasures of the 
imagination, I meant only such pleasures as arise originally from sight ; 
and that I divide these pleasures into two kinds." 

This sentence can be no exception to any natural rale. The penultimate 
member can only take the rising inflexion when its connexion with the ultimate 
member requires the vocal link. Mr Walker's rale seems but an awkward way 
of stating the principle of preparatory inflexions. The close of a sentence is 
generally marked by an extensive preparatory inflexion, — a rise before a fall, 
a fall before a rise, — to apprise the ear of the coming conclusion, and to give 
extent and energy to the final tone ; but this penultimate inflexion does not 
require to be thrown back to the penultimate member of the sentence ; that 
must be inflected according to the sense, and the reader of taste will be at no 
loss to find means of giving preparatory variety to his conclusion, though he 
have but a syllable on which to effect it. 

The rising inflexion is productive of anticipation ; it leads the hearer to expect 
what follows, and his ear would feel cheated if the expectation were not realized. 
But it is often of importance to the effective reader to make a sentence seem 
finished before it really is so ; of course the sense must be complete, or the sem- 
blance of a conclusion would not pass on the thinking hearer. Thus, in the 
exclamation, " Why am I subject to his cruelty and scorn f in the following 
lines : — 
" If I'm designed your lordling's slave, If not, why am I subject to 

By Nature's law designed ; His cruelty and scorn ? 

Why was an independent wish Or, why has man the will and power 



E'er planted in my mind ? To make his fellow mourn 



9" 



INFLEXION. 275 

The adoption of the rising turn on the word " cruelty," according to the Pe- 
nultimate Rule, would prepare the hearer to expect and wait for the stronger 
word that follows ; but if the voice fall on " cruelty," as if that finished the 
sentence, with what spontaneity and natural emphasis will the additional words 
be then delivered ! 

" Why am I subject to his cruelty?" (nay, more; and harder still to bear) 

" and scorn ?" 
Negative Sentences. — Negative sentences, and members of sentences, 
have been indiscriminately directed to be read with a rising inflexion at the end ; 
but there is an important difference between them which this rule quite over- 
looks. Negative sentences and clauses are naturally divisible into two classes, 
1st, Those in which the negation assumes a positive form ; and, 2nd, Those in 
which doubt or contingency is implied, or in which the negative member is 
antithetic to some affirmatory member either expressed or understood. All ne- 
gative sentences of the first class must have an exclusive falling inflexion, in 
accordance with the fundamental principle. 

Examples: — "Thou shalt do no murder." 

" Thou shalt not steal." 

" He shall not touch a hair of Catiline." 

»^ 

And those of the second class, — equally in accordance with the fundamental 
principle, — demand a connective or suggestive, rising inflexion. 

Nothing can better show the natural force of the inflexions than the effect of 
a rising tone on a negative sentence. It so plainly carries an appeal to our 
judgment, and directs our thoughts to the antithetic affirmation, that, if that be 
not expressed, our minds immediately suggest it ; or, if it is not sufficiently ob- 
vious, we shall not rest satisfied, or be able to withdraw our attention, until the 
speaker has explained it. 

Examples. — " It is not with stones or bricks that I have fortified the city. 
It is not from works like these that I derive my reputation." 
" Hark how I'll bribe thee. 
Not with fond shekels of the tested gold : — 
Or stones, — whose rate is either rich or poor, 
As fancy values them : — but with true prayers, 

That shall be up at heaven, and enter there, 

Ere the sun rise." 

Concessive Sentences. Concessive sentences, like those of the preceding 

class, have been indiscriminately stated to require the rising inflexion ; but the 

fundamental principle forbids a rise, except when connexion is to be shown. 

Concessive sentences are naturally divisible into two classes — those which are 



216 INFLEXION. 

conditional, .and those which are absolute and unconditional. The former re- 
quire a rising, and the latter as decidedly require a falling inflexion. Thus : 

" Precepts may perfect the judgment, but help little the performing power : 

make critics, not speakers." 

*»? 

In this sentence the antithetic emphasis on judgment, with performing power, 
and critics, with speakers, must be marked by the voice at the same time that 
the connexion is maintained with the subsequent clauses. This is accomplished 
by the rising wave, the first part of which being a fall, serves to denote the 
emphasis, while the last part links the conditional, concessive clause with the 
qualifying conclusion. Remove the qualifying parts, and let the concessions 
stand alone : then if the rising inflexion be employed, it will suggest the con- 
clusion ; but if this is not the object of the speaker, he must use the falling 

inflexion, and the concession will then be unconditional. — '* Precepts may 

perfect the judgment : — precepts may make critics." 
•^ »^ 

The First Part of an Antithesis. This forms the subject of a rule 

among all Elocutionists. The principle of inflexion is thus stated by Mr Walker 

— " The first part of every antithesis might form a perfect sentence by itself ; 

but the mutual relation between the former and latter parts forms as necessary 

a connexion between them, as if the former part formed no sense by itself, but 

was modified and restrained by the latter." 

Example. — " We are always complaining that our days are few, and acting 

as though there would be no end of them." 

The vocal function is well exhibited in sentences of this class : the tone of 
utterance supplies the reference from the former to the latter part of the sentence, 
which the writer intended should be made, but which the words do not contain. 

The fundamental rule includes the special one in this case also, so that the 
latter is unnecessary. 

Questions commencing with a Verb. — All Elocutionists and Nature 
agree in requiring a rising termination to sentences of this class. We have 
stated that the effect of the rising inflexion is primarily to connect, or appeal. 
It is on this principle that these questions take the rising turn. The interrogative 
rise appellatorily suspends the sense until it is perfected by the affirmatory or 
negative response : it establishes and maintains the most intimate connexion 
between the question and answer, as mutually necessary to the expression of 
sense. All questions asked by verbs are capable of being answered by a simple 
*' yes" or " no." The question states a proposition — sometimes in interrogative 
idiom, as—" Are you quite well?" and sometimes in declarative idiom, as — 
" You are quite well?" and the rising tone of utterance asks the hearer's cor- 
roboration or denial of it. We have seen, in negative sentences, the appellatory 
effect of a rising inflexion : the interrogation is merely an appeal. It puts 
before the hearer a statement or hypothesis, and appeals to him as to its cor- 



INFLEXION. 277 

rectness or incorrectness. The customary transposition of the verb from its 
ordinary place in a declarative sentence generally gives the interrogation a 
distinctive form to the eye ; but the declarative construction may be used 
interrogatively, and the interrogative construction may be employed declaratively, 
and that without the least confusion when the sentences are spoken ; so that it 
is in the rising progression of voice that the interrogation really consists. 

So greatly does the intent of interrogation alter the utterance of a sentence 
throughout, and with so little certainty does the grammatical construction of a 
sentence indicate its interrogative nature, that it would be well if — as is not 
unusual in Continental printing — the mark of interrogation (?) were placed at 
the beginning, as well as at the end of the interrogative sentence. The general 
adoption of this principle in printing, especially when the interrogation is long, 
would be a service to the Art of Reading, seeing that the interrogation consists 
less in the form of words than in the expression of the voice. 

A peculiarity that has been often noticed with reference to verb-questions, is, 
that in repetition they lose the interrogative tone. If we ask a question which 
has not been distinctly heard or understood, and we, in consequence, have to 
repeat it, we immediately change the vocal progression, and pronounce the 
words with a falling inflexion. And this is in perfect accordance with nature, 
and with our fundamental rule ; for what was in its first utterance interrogative, 
becomes, in its repetition, part of a declarative sentence. We now simply tell 
what we had asked ; and whether we use the form of words or no, the utter- 
ance is equivalent to, " I said, or I asked, so and so." 

Repetition, or Echo. — Elocutionists lay down as a rule, that words 
" repeated" or " echoed " should have the rising inflexion. In the examples by 
which they support and illustrate the rule, the rising progression is certainly 
appropriate : but why ? Not because the rule with which they agree is expres- 
sive of a natural principle, but because in all the instances the sense is pro- 
gressive, and therefore, by the fundamental law, demands a progressive inton- 
ation. The rule, as generally stated, dictates a rise as necessary to the repeated 
utterance, without limitation. It would therefore require us to read such 
repetitions as the following, with rising inflexions : — 
" Happy, happy, happy pair !" 
" Fallen ! fallen ! fallen ! fallen ! 
Fallen from his high estate." 
But who could follow the rule into such absurdity ? Had some such instances 
as these crossed the rule-maker's mind, we should probably have found them 
noted under the separate head of " Exceptions." 

In this, as in all the other forms of construction which we have yet examined, 
the fundamental principle — the rule of sense — is strictly applicable, without 
exception. 

Elocutionists have generally proceeded hitherto on the principle, 
that Rules for the Voice should be founded on Sentences : hence 
the errors, inconsistencies, confusion, and complexity of their 



Mi INFLEXION. 

rules. We adopt the very opposite principle ; and maintain, 
as more simple, and as perfectly consistent and natural, that 
Rules for Sentences must be founded on the Voice. The voice 
has a certain, definite, natural expressiveness; and this may apply 
to any construction of language, according as the intent of the 
speaker requires the vocal effects. 

We shall now examine those kinds of sentences for which a fall- 
ing inflexion has been generally prescribed. They are Loose Sen- 
tences; Questions ashed by Adverbs and Pronouns; Final Pause. 

Falling Inflexions. 

Loose Sentences. — A Loose Sentence is one which contains a member or 
members forming perfect sense, and not restrained or qualified by the member 
or members that follow in the same period. The rule given for reading such 
independent members is natural and correct, — namely, to detach them from 
those that follow by a pause and a falling inflexion. A member of this kind, 
as Mr Walker well observes, " must be pronounced in such a manner as to show 
its independence on the succeeding member, and its dependence on the period, 
as forming but a part of it." Here is another instance of the expressive power 
of the voice. A falling inflexion, however emphatic, — that is, beginning how- 
ever high, and with whatever force, — may be made, and yet the exclusive effect 
of disjunction be avoided. The fall does not descend so low as to satisfy the 
ear with a perfect rest. Its effect is at the same time completive and continu- 
ative. It stops at or above the middle tone, — expressively checked in its 
downward progress. The student who has practised our exercises on the 
"Mechanism of the Inflexions" should be familiar with this range of voice, 
and able to execute it at will. It is common, not only on members of Loose 
Sentences, but in conversation, dialogue, or argument, at the conclusion of any 
assertion which is spoken — not as at all doubtful, neither with the tone of 
absolute certainty, but, — so as to convey to the hearer a statement or opinion, 
which he is afforded an opportunity to answer or refute. Air Knowles says, 
that " Mr Walker's rule of the loose sentence is altogether superfluous;" and 
the reason given is a plain statement of the natural principle of inflexion ; 
namely, " the inflexion is governed by the completeness of the sense ; and that 
is all we have to take into consideration." Mr Knowles has greatly simplified 
Mr Walker's system by the recognition of this governing principle ; but he has 
not allowed it absolute authority, as his rules for the Series testify. We 
would less object to this rule of the Loose Sentence as superfluous, than tojnany 
others which Mr Walker has accumulated ; for though our fundamental princi- 
ple includes this rule, it is not without its utility as marking the difference 
between a conclusive and a continuative falling inflexion. 

Questions asked by Pronouns or Adverbs. — Mr Walker's rule 
states, that " when an interrogative sentence commences with any of the 

• Elements of Elocution, p. 85. 



INFLEXION. 279 

interrogative pronouns or adverbs, with respect to inflexion, elevation, or 
depression of voice, it is pronounced exactly like a declarative sentence." The 
reason of this he does not tell us, but we shall discover the principle from a 
consideration of the nature of these sentences. We have seen that those inter- 
rogations which commence with verbs require no more than a simple affirmative 
or negative to answer them ; the question itself contains the terms of the 
answer, which we have only to accept or reject : but questions asked by 
interrogative pronouns or adverbs demand a new sentence in response. We ask 
when, how, why, where, or by whom a thing was or will be done, — and the 
answer states the time, manner, reason, place, or agent of the action in 
question. The point of our inquiry is not whether the thing actually was 
done ; we entertain no doubt about that part of the sentence depending on the 
verb, but take for granted that it expresses a fact ; and our only doubt relates 
to the circumstances attending the act, — the how, when, why, &c. 

In questioning the reality of a fact, or the truth or correctness of an assertion, 
we naturally elevate the voice ; but to ask the circumstances of it, unless when 
associated with plaintive or tender sentiments, we generally depress the voice. 
In the former case, we seek assurance from a state of doubt and uncertainty ; 
in the latter, we seek information. Sentences of the latter class are imperative 
in their nature. They convey our request — or command it may be — accom- 
panied with any shade of feeling from imploring anxiety to angry mandate. In 
proportion as they are more or less peremptory will the force and extent of the 
downward inflexion vary. 

Example. — M Why sinks that caldron? and what noise is tins ?" 
But when there is in them anything of tenderness, sadness, or kindred feelings, 
the voice will take a more or less extended range in the opposite direction. 

Example. — " How is it with you, lady ?" 

To say that all questions asked by interrogative pronouns or adverbs require a 
falling inflexion, as most of our Elocutionists do assert, is a mistake. Let any 
one with a correct ear, and whose habits of observation render him competent 
to judge, watch the movements of the conversational voice, — a very fair test, — 
and he will find that questions of this kind are very often pronouuced with a 
rising inflexion, most frequently with that modified rise or fall which we have 
denominated Continuative ; and, if we mistake not, he will also discover that 
the principle which we have stated — in other words, the fundamental rule — is 
that which governs the adaption of their inflexions. 

The continuative rise or fall may frequently be used indifferently on a ques- 
tion of this kind, which is not marked by emotional emphasis. 



Example. — " How do you do ?" ^ r " How do you do ?" 
4 What is it o'clock '?" )° \ " What is it o'clock ?" 

The rising inflexion is, however, more deferential than the falling, and is that 



280 INFLEXION. 

which would generally be used in addressing a superior, while the latter is that 

which the superior would probably himself employ. 

It is to be observed also, that when a question of this kind, uttered with a 

falling inflexion, has not been distinctly apprehended, or, from any cause, is 

echoed by the person to whom it was addressed, it receives, in this repetition, 

the rising inflexion. 

Example. — " Whence arise these forebodings, but from the consciousness of 

guilt?" 

" Whence arise these forebodings?", 

„—_"'*''. . „ ., n „f implying, "Did you say?" 

" From the consciousness of guilt ?"> 

.*• 

This is generally the case also when we have not heard or understood with cer- 
tainty the answer returned to our question, and consequently repeat the inter- 
rogative word. 

Example. — " "When were you there last ?" 

ANSWER, (Not distinctly apprehended) 

" WH ^ ? " {ifSS&ai "™ you oblige me by repeatiag that?" 
But when the feeling of the questioner is not of the apologetic kind, he may throw 
petulance and authority into the repeated question, and use the falling inflexion. 
Thus a brow-beating barrister to an equivocating witness. 

" When?'''' — implying — "Answer directly and distinctly, sir, without evasion." 

In all these illustrations we may trace the working of the two simple funda- 
mental principles of inflexion, — which, among many varieties of application, 
require no category of Exceptions. 

In the following sentence, the elliptical questions, "for whom f and "for 
thee f ' illustrate the two classes of interrogations, — the former being equivalent 
to "for whom shall we break itf and the latter to the verb question, " shall 
we do so for thee ?" 

" All this dread order break,— for whom ? — for thee ? 

Vile worm ! madness ! Pride ! Impiety !" 

Final Pause or Period. — Here, as the sense is generally complete, a 
falling inflexion is naturally prescribed by all Elocutionists. The degree in which 
the sense is completed exclusively of what follows, corresponds to the approach 
the voice makes to a perfect rest. As the members of a Loose Sentence are sever- 
ally complete, yet have a mutual dependence, as parts of the same period ; so 
a succession of periods, each containing perfect sense, and grammatically com- 
plete, may have a mutual dependence as parts of one thought or chain of ideas : 
and the reader of taste and discernment will show this dependence or relationship, 
by reserving the perfectly conclusive inflexion for the termination of the periodic 
series, and giving its members such a modified fall as may indicate continuative- 
ness as well as completeness. Sometimes a directly connective, or rising in- 
flexion, may be demanded at the period ; but it will only be when suggestive 



INFLEXION. 281 

force is required, or when such a degree of connexion with the next sentence 
must be shown, as might have been appropriately indicated by a less disjunc- 
tive form of punctuation. 

Some additional classes of sentences require to be noticed, in order 
to complete our illustration of the applicability of the two funda- 
mental rules to every kind of composition, and their sufficiency 
for the government of inflexion. 

Parenthesis. — Parenthetical matter introduced into the body of a sentence 
must be so pronounced as not to interfere with the current of the inflexions in 
that sentence. Thus, whether the parenthesis is inserted at a point where the 
rising or falling inflexion takes place, the parenthesis must terminate with the 
same kind of inflexion, to maintain the same connectedness or disjunction be- 
tween the parenthesis and what follows, as exists between the latter and the 
clause before the parenthesis : but the final parenthetical inflexion must be 
pitched lower, and the whole parenthesis must be more feebly and (generally) 
more quickly uttered, to show its subordination to the sentence it divides. 
Sometimes, from peculiar emphasis, the parenthesis requires to be made more 
prominent than the rest of the sentence. In this case it will be raised to a 
higher level, instead of being sunk to a lower ; but the direction of its final in- 
flexion will still be regulated by the same principle. When a parenthesis, intro- 
duced where a sentence is incomplete, terminates with what is so positively em- 
phatic as to require a falling inflexion, it must of course have one ; but either 
of the continuative^ non-exclusive kind, or else followed by a rise — forming a 
rising wave — that the necessary connectedness of the subsequent with the ante- 
cedent clause may not be lost sight of. We may, then, briefly state as the rule, 
that a different pitch, — generally lower, but it may be higher, and a different 
rate of utterance, — generally quicker, but it may be slower — are required to dis- 
tinguish the parenthesis : while the direction of its ultimate inflexion must be 
correspondent to that of the clause preceding it. 

The usual marks of parenthesis ( ) are often omitted, and sometimes a break 
or dash (— ) before and after the parenthetic clause is substituted ; but, however 
the typographic sign may be dispensed with, the vocal sign can never be omitted. 
Words or phrases in Apposition, and nearly all explanatory or relative clauses 
are of the nature of parentheses, and require to be similarly delivered. 

Elliptical Member. — When a complemental word or clause is equally 
related to two contrasted governing words, as, " an estate by gaming," in the 
following sentences it is called the elliptical member : — u A good man will love 
himself too well to lose an estate by gaming, and his neighbour too well to 
win one." The elliptical member may be placed after either of the antithetic 
words, but it must not interfere with the order of their inflexions. Thus, the 
preceding sentence might be written as follows : — u A good man will love him- 

self too well to lose, (or lose,) and his neighbour too well to win an estate by 

gaming! 1 '' In the first case, the complemental clause is pronounced with a 

n n 



2S2 INFLEXION. 

rising tone, and in the latter, with a falling : it must follow the direction of the 
governing emphatic word which it immediately succeeds. 

Verb Questions of Two Parts Connected by Or. — To prove the 
necessity of invariably recurring to the rule of sense for the mode of inflecting 
any sentence, we need only instance questions of this class. By varying the 
tones with which we pronounce the same words, we ask, by them, two totally 
different questions. Thus :— " Are you going to Liverpool or Manchester?" — 
if the voice rise at the end of this sentence, it is a question as to the fact of 
going, referring equally to either place, and may be answered by yes or no ; 
being equivalent to " Are you going to either of these places ?" But if the voice 
fall at the end of the sentence, it then becomes no question as to the fact of 
going, but refers only to the place, being equivalent to " To which of these 
places are you going?" — assuming that you are going to one or other. 
Questions of this kind, of which the verb is the subject, may always be resolved 
into •' 75 it either V — can be answered by yes or no, and must have the 
rising inflexion ; and those of which the verb is not the subject, may always be 
resolved into " which is itf — cannot be answered by yes or no, and require 
the falling inflexion at the end. 

Series. — The ordinary rules for the inflexion of "sentences containing two 
or more perfectly similar portions in succession," — a series, — show to what extent 
the habit of framing rules to fit every construction of sentence, instead of refer- 
ring all sentences to general governing principles, may be earned. Yet, extra- 
ordinary as the rules for the series are, they have been copied and recopied, 
without question, by almost every successive Elocutionary book-maker. 
" Nothing," says Mr Walker, " can be more various than the pronunciation of 
a series : almost every different number of particulars requires a different method 
of varying them ; and even those of precisely the same number of particulars 
admit of a different mode of pronunciation, as the series is either commencing 
or concluding, simple or compound, single or double, or treble, with many other 
varieties, too complex to be easily 'determined." If this theory were correct, 
no sentence containing a series could be appropriately delivered, till we 
had first counted the number of particulars in the enumeration : reading at 
sight would, thus, be impracticable. How far from right — how far from 
Nature is this principle, — and how accurately the ride of sense enables any person 
of judgment to read at sight, we hope to be able clearly to demonstrate. 

A series is said to be simple when it is an enumeration of single words, and 
to be compound when its members consist of more than a single word. Why 
a difference should be necessary in the mode of inflecting these serieses is cer- 
tainly far from obvious ; yet all the Walker school of Elocutionists have their 
separate tables of the simple and of the compound series faithfully copied from 
the original arrangements of their great leader. 

The series is called " commencing" when it begins, but does not end the 
sentence, and " concluding" when it ends the sentence, whether it begins it or 
not. The fundamental principle of inflexion would, therefore, demand a rising 
inflexion at the end of the commencing scries, and a falling inflexion at the 



INFLEXION. 283 

end of the concluding series : and so far, Nature and all Elocutionists agree. 
But with the sing-song, ups and downs, prescribed for the other members, 
especially of a long series ; and, fundamentally, with the principle of having to 
count the number of members before being able to pronounce the series, Nature 
is most decidedly at variance. The natural series is, undoubtedly, one of 
numbers ; and in the mode in which numbers are universally counted, we must 
look for the natural utterance of all enumerations, whether of single words or 
of sentences. 

In the " Practical Elocutionist," a well-known class-book, the first edition of 
which appeared in 1836, the principle of serial inflexion is thus stated : and all 
experience and observation corroborate its truth. 

" To give a practical example that must be understood by the dullest com- 
prehension. — I am to give a person three, four, or five sovereigns. Say, I am 
to give him five sovereigns. In counting, I must pronounce the numbers up 
to the fourth with the rising inflexion — that is, the inflexion denoting incom- 
pletion, 

One', two', three', four', 
and the fourth number with a greater degree of the same inflexion, to denote 
that the next number closes the enumeration ; 

One', two', three', four", five*. 
" Here, then," the author* adds, '* is hitting at once the bull's-eye in the Elocu- 
tionary target, which has been shot at with various success by all Elocutionists 
and Guides to Elocution." 

Let this be tested in any language, as it has already been in several, and 
experiment will satisfactorily establish the principle, and demonstrate that this 
is the natural order of numeral, and consequently of serial inflexions. 

The double and treble measures to which the series was originally set by Mr 
Walker, and to which it has been chanted with but little variation by succeed- 
ing Elocutionists, are entirely artificial ; coinciding in some few simple instances 
with the natural arrangements, but fundamentally a t variance with the natural 
principle. 

The following Table of Numbers from one to ten exemplifies the order of numeral 
inflexion : with this all serial inflexion must coincide, whether the scries is long 
or short, and whether its members are simple or compound, or a mixture of both. 

One. 

One, Two. 

One, Two, Three. 
•^ .^ 

One, Two, Three, Four\ 
•^ ^ .*^ 

One, Two, Three, Four, Five. 

w ^ *• ,»• 

* Mr Bell, Senior, (London.) 



284 INFLEXION. 

One, Two, Three, Four, Five, Six. 

»' »^ •-- *'■ .^ 

One, Two, Three, Four, Five, Six, Seven. 

One, Two, Three, Four, Five, Six, Seven, Eight. 

•- ^ *^ •• •*- ^ .^ 

One, Two, Three, Four, Five, Six, Seven, Eight, Nine. 
One, Two, Three, Four, Five, Six, Seven, Eight, Nine, Ten. 

•* ■ +T +S +S +S *S **■ +S ,+S 

Cover down the concluding numbers in this Table, and the notation shows 
the inflexion of a commencing series -• the Table as it stands shows the or- 
dinary inflexion of a concluding series. 

In the concluding series, the reader has a degree of latitude, and an 
option of inflexion, which, in a commencing series, he cannot have. The effect 
of a rising inflexion is connective and preparatory, and its adoption on the 
members of a concluding series carries on the attention of the hearer to the 
members that follow, so as most forcibly to exhibit them in their concatenation : 
but if the falling inflexion is adopted, — as it may be, with perfect correctness, 
the sense being formed at the end of each member,— .then the aggregate of 
members — the series — will in some degree lose force and compactness, but the 
individual members will gain in emphasis and separate effect. 

We have only to add, that as the principle of melody requires an opposite 
preparatory inflexion before every principal one, the number previous to the 
last should generally take a modified inflexion upwards or downwards, to in- 
troduce the conclusion of the series. But this, Kke all other rules, is subject to 
the rule of sense. It would, we conceive, be bad reading, to sacrifice the strongly 
emphatic effect of the falling inflexion on the penultimate member of the follow- 
ing sentence, for the sake of rendering it preparatory, — as it is marked in 
Mr Ewing's Elocution,— to the comparatively weak member that concludes. 
M Watch ye, stand fast in the faith, quit you like men, be strong." 

In this and similar sentences, the radical point of the inflexions gradually 
rises as the series proceeds, and the effect of a climax is produced. Thus, — 

•^ v men, 

faith, 
•^ the like -», 

Middle Watch in be 

Tone. fast you .^ 

ye, quit strong, 

stand +* 



The habit of reading with other than natural tones, with limited 
inflexions, and with monotonous repetitions of the same radical 
or pitch-notes, which is so very common, will be most readily 
broken by the practice of strong and varied inflexions on single 
words, either from vocabular arrangements, or as they occur in 
ordinary composition. The latter will at first afford the easier 



INFLEXION. 285 

and the safer exercise ; for, in reading tables of unconnected 
words, the voice most naturally inclines to a sameness of tone, 
which it requires a constant effort to counteract. Nevertheless 
the reader who cannot, at will, pronounce unconnected words in 
any manner, or with any degree of inflexion, has not acquired 
sufficient control over the fundamental movements of the voice. 
The four inflexions should, therefore, be practised — with different 
intervals, until a perfect mastery over them has been attained. 
After a little practice, if not at once, in reading word by word 
any familiar language, the voice will expressively adapt itself to 
the connectedness or disconnectedness of the words, and the 
feeling which they convey. This, therefore, is the best kind of 
exercise for the acquirement of vocal flexibility. 

The custom of inflectively anticipating the next word, phrase, or 
sentence, because it is before the eye, is one of the most common 
causes of ineffective reading, especially of that kind which consists 
in too frequent elevations of the voice. Few readers err in the oppo- 
site way by the misplacement of conclusive turns ; this constant 
linking-on of sentences may be said to be the most prevailing form 
of defective expression in reading. The worst reader generally lets 
slip a natural note, when he has to turn over a page to conclude 
a sentence. If the utterance is querulous, doubtful, or progres- 
sive, or if the sense is undeveloped, his voice ivill rise into na- 
turally suspensive elevation ; and if the utterance is positive, or if 
the sense is formed, however incomplete the sentence may be, his 
voice will fall here: and this because he does not see in advance of his 
utterance.* Let the reader reflect that his hearers are in precisely 
the same predicament at every word — they do not see the next ; 
and their ears as naturally expect, as his voice naturally makes, a 
suspensive or conclusive turn, correspondent to the mental effect 
of the utterance. If he concludes a sentence with a rising turn, 
because he sees another sentence after it, they are led to consider 
what has been said as incomplete, and dependent on, or impor- 
tantly qualified by, what is to follow ; and they feel disappointed 
and annoyed, when the expected utterance comes out, and con- 
tains no reference to what preceded. Not only so, but that which 

* It is not to be inferred that good readers do not look in advance of their 
utterance ; on the contrary, the best readers exercise the longest prevision. But 
they look onward in order to catch the relations of clauses and sentences, and 
to regulate their utterance accordingly. The anticipatory effect which we con- 
demn, has no connexion with regulated expressiveness : it is indiscriminating, 
and is governed, not by ideas, but by words. 



286 INFLEXION. 

iii composition was meant to be conclusive and convincing, leaves on 
the minds of the hearers an unsatisfactory and indecisive impres- 
sion — the natural effect of the reader's inappropriate intonation. 

We, therefore, recommend the student who is desirous of ac- 
quiring the use of his own natural speaking voice in reading, to 
practise the inflexions on single words, until the vocal movements 
are perfectly mastered, and to proceed through all the stages of 
grammatical grouping which we have arranged and exemplified, 
with a full and varied sweep of the voice, pitched from every 
accent in every group, — directed on the principles of inflexion 
which we have laid down ; — and, we are sure, he will soon find 
the old, tuneful, hum-drum spell that held his voice with the force 
of a second nature, broken ; and will be enabled to give his 
reading — if not a perfectly spontaneous effect, — a gradually in- 
creasing degree of natural variety, which, without some such 
thoroughly searching, habit-eradicating mode of practice, he could 
never hope to attain. 

This kind of exercise, if useful for the correction of habitually 
faulty tones, must be much more effective for the prevention of 
unnatural habits of delivery, and the cultivation of vocal flexibi- 
lity and expressiveness in those who have only to learn, and have 
not to undergo the harder labour of unlearning. 

The way in which school exercises are generally allowed to be 
rattled and gabbled over, is productive of much mischief, both to 
articulation and vocal expression. Habits of speech are formed 
at public schools which cannot be thrown off in after-life without 
more labour and watchfulness than nine out of ten persons could 
either encounter or afford to bestow. Stammering, even, is often 
traced to the uncontrolled emulation of a class ; and all impedi- 
ments and defects of speech are, from the same cause, almost 
invariably aggravated at public schools. Quickness of utterance 
being the quality most prized by mistaken schoolmasters, the 
thoughtful boy, who is often shy, and who is generally of better 
parts than the pert, guessing lads, that are always first with their 
answers, has no chance ; and in his efforts to expedite his thoughts, 
he confuses them, or they come faster than his tongue can utter 
them, so that jumbling rapidity, inarticulate hurry, stuttering, 
or convulsive impediment, is very naturally created. 

Expressive inflexion prevents hurry, and favours distinctness 
of articulation : it may, besides, be made an index of mental ad- 






MODULATION. 267 

vancement ; and used with much advantage to taste, as an in- 
strument of mental cultivation. 

Let, then, every teacher of youth take this fundamental axiom 
of speaking tones into ordinary class application — none questions 
its truth, though many violate it — that " all words, whether pro- 
nounced in a high or low, loud or soft tone ; whether uttered 
swiftly or slowly, forcibly or feebly, with passion or without it, 
must necessarily be pronounced with inflexion, that is, sliding 
either upwards or downwards." If words are enunciated with- 
out inflexion, they must be in monotone, and sung. 

Let this one principle be systematically enforced in every school, 
and the monotony, drawling, and screaming, and other forms of 
unnatural utterance so common and so life-lasting, will be at once 
banished from the Class-room, — and, through it, from the Pulpits, 
the Courts, and from every arena of lona-fide oratory : from all 
but, perhaps, the mimic stage ; which might shake the sides of 
the next-risen generation, 'by imitating the grave chanting of a 
bygone age. 

MODULATION, 

In treating of the Mechanism and Extent of the Inflexions, we 
have shown that the radical or pitch-note of the inflexions varies 
to an almost infinite extent. Our inflective notation is calculated 
to show the extent of the inflexions, — the intervals through which 
they range, and — very generally — the position of their pitch-note 
with relation to an assumed middle tone of voice. Modulation 
has reference to the prevailing pitch of the inflexions in a sentence, 
and the key-notes, as it were, of periods or clauses. Thus a pas- 
sage may be modulated in a high or low key, without at all affect- 
ing the direction or extent of its inflexions. 

In arranging a notation for Modulation, we can take notice only 
of the greater and more manifest varieties. Minuteness we can- 
not aim at. It may be sufficient to fix on five points, a middle key, 
and two above and two below this. The middle key corresponds 
to the natural or Conversational Pitch, and will be denoted by 
No. 3, — the middle number between 1 and 5. The key above 
this (4,) is indefinitely Higher; and, when used with somewhat 
more than conversational Force, may be called the Declamatory 
Key. The key below the conversational — (No. 2,) — is indefinitely 
Lower; and when used with slower than conversational Time, 
may be called the Solemn Key. No. 5,— the High Key, — is, with 



288 MODULATION. 

strong force, the key of Passion. No. 1, — the Low Key, — is, with 
slow time, the key of Awe. The following notation exemplifies 
these varieties of Modulation : — 



■ High. 



4 Higher. 

3 ■ Conversational. 

2 — — —Lower. 

1 1 Low. 

" *On the one hand are the Divine approbation and immortal honour ; on 
the other, ("remember, and beware !) 4 are the stings of conscience, and end- 
less infamy." 

" 3 The old adage of ' Too many irons in the fire,' conveys an abominable 
falsehood. 4 You cannot have too many : poker, tongs, and all, — *keep them 
all going." 

To indicate a progressive elevation or depression of pitch, the 
mark I" or [ will be placed before the modulative number. Thus 
[3 signifies a gradual ascent of pitch above the conversational key ; 
and [2, a gradual descent from the pitch indicated by No. 2. 

A change of modulation is always necessary to distinguish In- 
terrogations or Appeals from Responses ; Assertions from Proofs 
or Illustrations ; General Statements from Inferences or Corol- 
laries ; to introduce Quotations ; to denote the commencement of 
a new subject, or new division of a subject, or of any marked 
change in the style of composition — as from Narration to Descrip- 
tion, or from Literal to Figurative Language, and vice versa ; to 
express feeling and changes of sentiment; to distinguish what has 
been previously expressed or implied, or what is merely expletive, 
from what is new and emphatic to the sense ; to detach from the 
main body of the sentence words or clauses which are explanatory 
or parenthetic ; and to distinguish generally those parts of a sen- 
tence which are necessary to its construction from those that are 
subordinate and dispensable. 

The degree in which the Modulation is changed, and even the 
direction of the change, — whether to a higher or lower key, — must 
depend on the reader's judgment, taste, temperament, &c. To 
assist him in the cultivation of the first two qualities, and, mainly, 
in forming the habit of making modulative changes at those places 
where all good readers must agree in applying the principle of 
change, however widely they may differ in the degree and direc- 
tion in which they apply it, is the object which we aim at accom- 
plishing by our modulative notation. 

No Exercise will be found more improving to the style of read- 



MODULATION. 289 

ing than the distinguishing, — by changes of Modulation, — the 
principal from the subordinate words in a sentence, — the subjec- 
tive and the predicative clauses from the mass of inferior sen- 
tences and clauses in which they are often found embedded. 
These necessary component members of every sentence should be 
so delivered as to strike upon the hearer's mind with unencum- 
bered distinctness among the most multitudinous assemblage of 
particulars. The Subject and Predicate are generally the most 
emphatic parts of a sentence : they are so always, indeed, except 
when either of them has been previously expressed or implied ; or 
when some opposition or contrast of particulars or subordinate 
clauses requires the elevation of such inferior words, 

Let the Student exercise himself in the Modulation and Rela- 
tive Emphasis of principal and subordinate clauses in the fol- 
lowing manner : — Underline the principal Subjects and principal 
Predicates, and the connectives of principal subjects and pre- 
dicates in some passages of varied styles of composition ; and 
separate, by an appropriate mark, all subordinate, complemental, 
or qualifying clauses and sentences, from the principals, and from 
each other. Read the composition with a modulative change at 
every mark, and observe whether the principal subject and pre- 
dicate bear the leading emphasis, and if they do not, why not ? 
and whether any of the syntactically subordinate words require 
the leading emphasis on them, and if so, why so ? 

The following is an Example of this kind of Modulative and 
Emphatic Parsing. The principal syntactical words are italicised. 

" Generally speaking, | those | who have the most grace, and the 
greatest gifts, | and are of the greatest usefulness, | are the most 
humble, \ and think the most meanly of themselves. So, \ those 
boughs | and branches of trees j which are most richly laden with 
fruit, | bend downwards, | and hang lowest." 

" Generally speaking' 1 '' qualifies the principal sentence, " those are" $fc, 
and is therefore a first-class subordinate clause : " those" — the subject ; although 
a pronoun, it is emphatic, because not immediately followed by the predicate, and 
because it is the antecedent to a relative : " who have the most grace" a re- 
lative sentence limiting the subject, and therefore a first-class subordinate : 
" and the greatest gifts" — another relative sentence in the same predicament : 
" and (who) are (therefore) of the greatest usefulness" — a deduction from the 
two preceding relative sentences, and therefore a second-class subordinate : 
" are the most humble" — the predicate : u and think the most meanly of them- 
selves" another predicate to the subject u those;" the leading emphasis falls on 
the word " meanly," because if it were on " think" it would convey a false 
meaning, by suggesting an antithesis evidently not intended, and because " of 

o o 



290 MODULATION. 

thcutsiiccs" is implied in the former predicate, " the most humble:" the second 
predicate is subordinate to the first, as being merely a repetition of the same 
idea in different words. The next sentence is subordinate to the preceding, be- 
cause the fact it states is advanced in illustration of what was said in the former 
sentence. " So" — a connective adverb ; very emphatic, because marking the 
correspondence or analogy between the facts of the two sentences : " those 
boughs" — the subject : " and branches of trees" another subject to the pre- 
dicate u bend;" the leading clausular accent falls on the word " trees" because 
if it were on " branches" it would imply antithesis between that word and 
" boughs," but the leading subjective emphasis is on " boughs" because that 
word implies " of trees :" " which are most richly laden with fruit " — a rela- 
tive sentence limiting the subject, and therefore a first-class subordinate : " bend 
doivnwards" — the predicate ; the leading accent on " bend" because that word, 
referring to richly laden boughs, implies "doivnwards :" " and hang lowest " 
— another predicate to the subject " boughs ;" the leading accent on " lowest" 
because all boughs "richly laden with fruit," must " hang." 

We use the following marks to denote the comparative eleva- 
tion or depression of subordinate clauses : — Elevate, f Depress, [_. 
This mark ( | ) shows the end of the modulated clause ; it is 
used also to separate unconnected clauses. The full modulative 
and accentual notation of the above sentence would then be the 
following : — 

Gen"erally speak'ing, | Hhose | who have' the most' grace" 
and' the great'est gifts,"[ and are' of the great'est usefulness, | 
*are' the most' hum"ble, \ and think' the most niean'ly of them- 
selves'. 'So | those boughs" \ and branches of trees" | which' 
are most rich'ly la'den with fruit," | bend" down' wards, J and 
hang' low"est. 

In the two following Extracts, the Subjects and Predicates are 
printed in italics : in the subsequent illustrations, the clausular 
divisions and the relative modulations are also marked. In reading 
these Exercises, note, — 

1st, — When the Subject and Predicate stand together, they must (unless when 
they are without emphasis) be uttered with that deliberation and intervening 
pause which denote what is most weighty and worthy of attention. 2nd, When 
they are separated by any clause or clauses, these subordinate parts must 
be so pronounced as not to interfere with the inflexion and modulation of the 
principal members ; they must be removed from the main level of the sentence 
— changed to a different key-note ; but whether raised to a higher, or depressed 
to a lower, their syntactical subordination must be distinctly shown, in their 
more limited inflexions, feebler force, and (generally) quicker time. 3rd, When 
subordinate clauses precede the subject, though they may be inflected down- 
wards, they cannot terminate with a completive fall ; their inflexion must be 
either of that modified kind which we call Continuative, or else its more em- 
phatic descent must be finished by a slightly rising connecting link. 4th, The 
Subject must be uttered with such a progression of voice, as plainly to denote 



MODULATION. 291 

the closeness of connexion that exists between it and the Predicate as members 
which are mutually necessary to the expression of sense ; and the voice must be kept 
up, or at least kept from making- a completive fall at the end of any clause that may 
intervene between it and the predicate : — if there are several intervening clauses, 
the last must be pronounced with such an elevation of voice as may premonstrate 
the coming conclusion. 5th, When subordinate clauses follow the predicate, 
though they form part of the same period, they must not be allowed to deprive 
the utterance of the predicate of its completive effect : unless when connexion 
is purposely maintained by a rise, — as when the subordinate clauses are intended 
to limit the acceptation of the predicate, — the latter must have a perfect fall, 
however far from the end of the sentence it may occur. 6th, When Principal 
Connectives are not immediately followed by the words which they unite in 
sense, but by some subordinate clause, they must be kept apart in utterance, by 
a pause and modulative change after them. 7th, The Clausular Accentuations 
and Relative Emphasis (and, consequently, the arrangement of the Inflexions) 
must be regulated by the judgement. 

hamlet's soliloquy on death.* 

To be f or not to be? that is the question : 

Whether 'tis nobler, | in the mind, | to suffer 

The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, 

Or to take arms against a siege of troubles, 

And, | by opposing, j end them? — To die ? — to sleep — 

No more :—and, j by a sleep, | to say we end 

The heart-ache, and the thousand natural shocks 

That flesh is heir to — 'tis a consummation 

Devoutly to be wished! To die — to sleep ; 

To sleep ? — perchance to dream I — ay, there's the rub ! 

For, | in that sleep of death, | what dreams may come, 

(_When we have shuffled off this mortal coil, | 

Must give us pause ! There's the respect, 

That makes calamity of so long life ! 

For, who would bear the whips and scorns of time, | 

The oppressor's wrong, | the proud man's contumely, j 

The pangs of despised love, | the law's delay, j 

The insolence of office, j and the spurns 

That patient merit of the unworthy takes — j 

When he himself, might his quietus make, 

With a bare bodkin ? Who would fardels bear, — 

To groan and sweat under a weary life, J 

* The italics in this and the following similarly printed passages, do not indicate 
emphasis, but, as stated on the preceding page, denote the principal constructive 
words in the several sentences. These, whether emphatic or subordinate to the 
sense, shoidd always be distinctively uttered. The effect and object of the 
notation will be best seen by first reading the italicised words alone. 



292 MODULATION. 

But that the dread of something after Death— 
L That undiscover'd country, |_from whose bourn 
No traveller returns ! | —puzzles the will ; 
And makes us rather hear those ills we have, 
Than fly to others that we know not of. 
Thus Conscience does make coiuards of us all : 
And thus, the native hue of Resolution 
Is sicklied o'er with the pale cast of Thought ; 
And enterprises of great pith and moment, — 
[With this regard, | their currents turn awry, 
And lose the name of action ! 

THE POWER OF HABIT. 

Whatever action, j either good or had, J has been done once, is done a 
second time with more ease, and with a better liking ; and a frequent repetition 
heightens the ease and pleasure of the performance | without limit. By virtue 
of this property of the mind, having done any thing once becomes a motive to 
doing it again ; having done it twice is a double motive ; and [so many 
times the act is repeated, Tso many times | the motive to doing it once more, 
is multiplied. To this principle, habit owes its wonderful force, [of which it 
is usual to hear men complain, — ras of something external that enslaves the 
will. But the complaint |_in this instance, Tas in every other in which man 
presumes to arraign the ways of Providence, | is rash and unreasonable. 
The fault is in man himself, if a principle, implanted in him for his good, 
becomes, | by negligence and mismanagement, | the instrument of his ruin. 
It is owing to this principle | that every faculty of the understanding, and 
every sentiment of the heart, is capable of being improved l~by exercise. It is 
the leading principle | in the whole system of the human constitution ; [mo- 
difying both the physical qualities of the body, and the moral and intellectual 
endowments of the mind. 

CLOSE OF A GOOD LIFE. 

*And now | behold him [up the hill ascending, | 

[Memory J and hope, [like evening stars, | attending ; 

Sustained, \ excited, [till his course is run, | 

TBy deeds of virtue | done, | or to be done. 

'When [on his couch The sinks j at length | to rest, 

Those j by his counsel saved, | his power redressed, | 

Those | by the world shunned ever [as unblest, | 

[At whom the rich man's (log growls from the gate, 

TBut whom he sought out, [sitting desolate, | 

4 Come and stand round! j the widow with her child, | 

[As when she first forgot her tears | and smiled! 

3 They | who watch by him | see not ; \ but he sees, 

4 Sees I and exidts ! I — were ever dreams like these ? 



MODULATION. 293 

'They j who watch by him | hear not; j but he hears ! 

And earth recedes, \ *and heaven itself appears. 
v Tis past! | 'that hand we grasped, [alas ! [in vain ! 
Nor shall we look into his face again ! 
3 Bui | to his closing eyes, (for all were there,) 
Nothing ivas ivanting ; \ and, [through many a year, 
We shall remember | with a fond delight | 
The words | so precious J which we heard to-night ; 
THis parting ; | 2 though J awhile j our sorrow flows, 
TLike setting suns, | or music at the close ! 

• * Then j was the drama ended. J Not till then, 
[So full of chance and change the lives of men, | 
Could we pronounce him happy. Then j secure 
From pain, | from grief, Tand all that we endure, | 
He slept j in peace, j *say rather soared to heaven, j 
Upborne from earth | by Him, |_to whom 'tis given, 
In his right hand to hold the golden key 
That opes the portals of eternity. 
When | by a good man's grave j I muse | alone, j 
Methinks | an angel sits upon the stone : 
[Like those of old, [on that thrice-hallowed night, 
rWho sat and watched j in raiment heavenly bright ; 
And [with a voice inspiring joy, Tnot fear, 
Says, j pointing upwards, j that he is not here, 
That he is risen ! 

It is almost as difficult to make a man unlearn his errors j as his knowledge. 
Mal-in formation is more hopeless than non-information ; j * for, error is always 
more busy than ignorance. * Ignorance is a blank sheet, Ton which we may 
write ; } but error is a scribbled one, [from which we must first erase. 
* Ignorance is contented to stand still | with her back to the truth ; but error 
is more presumptuous, \ * and proceeds in the backward direction. * Ignorance 
has no light, but error follows a false one : 'the consequence is, | that error 
[when she retraces her footsteps, | has farther to go [before she can arrive at 
the truth Tthan ignorance. 

*Time moveih not! *our being His [that moves ; 
*And we, [swift gliding down life's rapid stream, j 
Dream of swift ages, J and revolving years, | 
Ordained to chronicle our passing days : j 
2 So J the young sailor, [in the gallant bark J 
Scudding before the wind, J beholds the coast 
Receding from his eyes, J 3 and thinks [the while, 
TStruck with amaze | that he is motionless, 
And that the land is sailing. 



W MODULATION. 

1 Man's uncertain life 

Is like a rain-drop [hanging on the bough 

f Amongst ten thousand of its sparkling kindred, 

[The remnants of some passing thunder shower, 

[Which have their moments [dropping one by one, 

[And [which shall soonest lose its perilous hold, 

We cannot guess. 
3 The actions of each day are, [for the most part, j links [which follow each other 
in the chain of custom. Hence \ *the great effort of practical wisdom, 
is to imbue the mind with right tastes, | affections, | and habits ; [the ele- 
ments of character | and masters of actions. 

*Oh, Hivas a gladdening, glorious tiling, 

To see the sun [in pity ffliiig 

[On the poor weeping trees [his ray, 

[To wipe their falling tears away. 

*And the rejoicing leaves | the while, j 

[Lit by the sun-beam, | seemed to smile | 

[A thousand times, [in our rapt eye, 

[More lovely than they were when dry. 

*Say | what impels, [amidst surrounding snow 

Congealed, [the crocus' flaming bud to glow ? 

Say | what retards, [amidst the summer's blaze 

[The autumnal bulb, | till pale declining days ? 

3 The God of Seasons, [whose pervading power 

Controls the sun, | or sheds the fleecy shower ; 

He bids each flower his quickening word obey | 

Or | to each lingering bloom j enjoins delay. 
If thou desire happiness, | desire not to be rich : *he is rich, [not who pos- 
sesses much, [but he that covets no more ; 3 and he is poor, [not that 
enjoys little, [but he that wants too much : the contented mind wants 
nothing that it hath not, [ *the covetous mind wants [not only what it 
hath not, [but likewise what it hath. 

Proud minion of a little hour, 

[Receptacle of passing power | 

The page of history scan •• 

[Although the mighty million fling 

A name upon thee, | — call thee king | 
Yet j art thou still a man. 

See | how [beneath the moonbeam's smile, | 
Yon little billow heaves its breast, | 

And foams \ and sparkles | for a while, J 
And [murmuring, | then j subsides to rest ! 

*Thus | man, [the sport of bliss and care, | 
Rises | on Time's eventful sea ; | 






MODULATION. 295 

And, [having swelled a moment there, | 
TJius melts [into eternity. 
3 The passions, [like heavy bodies down steep hills, [once in motion J move 

themselves, *and know no ground but the bottom. 
*Every man \ who speaks and reasons | is a grammarian and a logician, 
[although unacquainted with the rules of art, [as exhibited in books and 
systems. 

*Alas ! how light a cause may move 
Dissension between hearts that love ! 
Hearts, [that the world in vain had tried, 
FAnd sorrow but more closely tied ; 
TThat stood the storm, [when waves were rough, 
[Yet in a sunny hour fall off, — 
[Like ships that have gone down at sea 
When heaven is all tranquillity ! 
\ Z A something light as air — J a look j 

A word j unkind— or wrongly taken ; 
a Oh ! love, [that tempests never shook, j 
A breath, a touch like this, hath shaken. 
Again the hardy Britons rushed [like lions [to the fight. 
The Assyrian came down [like the wolf on the fold. 
Murder, therefore, is the most atrocious of all crimes [which affect individuals 
only, [in the sight both of mankind, and of the person who has com- 
mitted it. 
While [beholding this vast expanse, [I learn my own extreme meanness, I 
would also discover the abject littleness of all terrestrial things. 
3 To die ? — Q to sleep ; 
% To sleep? — * perchance *to dream! x Ay, there's the rub I 
*He woke — f to hear his sentries shriek 
" *To arms I — they comet— J>the Greek! — the Greek!" 
He woke — L'to die. 

2 So knelt she [m her woe ; 

3 A weeper |_alone with the tearless dead ! 

1 Oh, they reck not of tears o'er their quiet shed, 

4 Or the dust, had stirred below ! 

3 His children l But here my heart began to bleed, s and I was forced to 

go on with another part of the portrait. 

*He started : L'mid the battle's yell, 
2 He saw the Persian rushing on ; 
He saw [the flames around him swell, — 
1 Thou *rt ashes ! King of Babylon ! 



296 FORCE, TIME, &c. 

FORCE, TIME, AND EXPRESSION. 

The same principle which dictates variety of Modulation requires 
also a corresponding variety in the Force and Time of utterance. 
No unvarying uniformity of manner, in any particular of delivery, 
can be effective ; for it is unnatural. 

We do not enlarge upon the rationale of Force and Time, as 
the reasons for modifications of these qualities must lie chiefly in 
the reader's sympathetic appreciation of sentiment, situation, &c. 
We shall content ourselves with furnishing a simple notation for 
the greater changes of Force and Time, and illustrating their 
application in a few marked passages. 

We assume as middle points those degrees of Force and of Time 
which are used in unimpassioned conversation ; which we call 
moderate, and mark m. Two degrees of slower and of quicker 
Time, and of stronger and feebler Force, we call slow and ada- 
gio, quick and rapid, energetic and vehement, feeble and piano ; 
and mark e. v. f. p ; s. a. q. r. 

In addition to these, which may be employed as accidental 
marks, it will be useful to have a more general notation for a 
gradual or climactic increase or diminution of Force, and acceler- 
ation or retardation of Time. For this purpose, we adopt the 
marks cres. dim. ac. ret. 

There are other varieties of Expression which, as they funda- 
mentally affect the quality of the voice, or the mode of utterance, 
must be noticed and included in our notation. These are Whisper, 
marked ( Wh. ) Hoarseness, (H.) Falsetto, (Fals.) Orotund, (Or.) 
Plaintiveness, (PI.) Tremor, ( Tr.) Prolongation, ( Pr.) E [feet 
of Distance, (Dist.) Effect of Strong Effort, or Straining, (Str.) 
Staccato, (St.) Sostenuto, ( Sst.) Sympathetic, ( Sym.) Imita- 
tive, ( Im.) Sudden Break, ( ) Expresssive Pause, (O) 

The Whisper is used to express secrecy and cunning ; it denotes also ap- 
prehension of evil, or fearful suspense in presence of danger. Hoarseness, 
or an aspirated vocality, is employed to express horror, loathing, agony, and 
despair. The Falsetto voice is expressive of puerility or senility ; it denotes 
also acute anguish, or an overpoweringly mirthful feeling. The Orotund, a 
deep/mellow quality of voice, is appropriate for expressions of pomp, sublimity, 
and vastness — also for those of bombast and self importance. Plaintiveness 
is produced by employment of the semitonic interval of inflexion, (see page 267.) 



EXPRESSIOiN. 297 

It is expressive of suffering — but not without hope ; of sympathy in suffering, 
of fond desire, of supplication, and earnest entreaty, and also of mild reproach. 
Tremor, or an unsteady, tremulous formation of voice, is expressive of anxiety, 
alarm, eagerness, and intense emotion. When the intervals of the tremulous 
movement arc not chromatic or plaintive, but diatonic, the tremor is expressive 
of self-gratulation, exultation, boasting, triumph : — it is then, in other words, 
chuckling, by which term we designate this vocal effect in its strongly joyful ap- 
plications. Prolongation of voice, or of articulative effort, is often most ex- 
pressive, but so variously that its precise effect cannot be briefly denoted — it is fre- 
quently employed in scorn, derision, malignity, &c, but it is also often used to 
convey the very opposite sentiments — it is an intensive effect, applicable to many 
passions. The Effect of Distance differs from low modulation and feeble 
force — it is a " ventriloquial" effect, but one within th$ compass of any voice. 
The Effect of Strong Effort differs from any of the qualities of Force and Modu- 
lation, being a sort of subdued Straining, chiefly on the articulations — which 
are thus rendered more explosive than usual ; it is not loud, though expressive 
of loudness. The Staccato movement consists in a strongly pointed, abrupt, 
and frequent accentuation, and is expressive of recrimination, reproach, and 
all acrimonious sentiments ; and also of any marked sentential emphasis. The 
Sostenuto movement consists in a smooth, flowing, equable accentuation, 
and is expressive of admiration, tenderness, love, and pleasing sentiments 
generally. The occasions for a strictly Imitative tone must always be o^ ious, 
and the effects of the imitation will, of course, be as various as its objects : — 
but there is a certain sympathetic suiting of the sound to the sense employed by 
the effective reader in almost every paragraph of descriptive language, which, 
though not strictly imitative, may yet be called analogously so. Thus, in describ- 
ing cheerful or gay objects, the voice will leap from pitch to pitch in its inflexions 
with a buoyancy of effect that aptly analogizes the bounding pulse and buoyant 
spirits of cheerfulness ; in depicting gloomy, solemn, or sad objects, the inflexions 
will be low and limited, and the march of accentuation slow and equable. In 
speaking of the roaring or the whistling wind, the booming shot, the crashing 
and rolling thunder, the sweep of the hurricane, the heaving and splashing of 
waters, the glowing, crackling fire, &c, the articulation of the words may be 
made highly illustrative of the objects by this sort of imitative effect. Indeed, 
the articulative construction of the most expressive words is often strikingly 
imitative of the objects they denote, so that the words bear well, and seem to 
require this illustrative effect by the voice. We shall use the notation Sym. 
(Sympathetic,) where mental emotion is to be expressed, and Im. {Imitative,') 
where physical properties, — sound, motion, &c. are concerned. The Sudden 
Break in utterance may be demanded by a rhetorical break occurring in the 
composition, or it may be simulatively introduced by the reader for some purpose 
of effect. The Expressive Pause is reflective or monitory, conveying the 
effect of meditation, deliberation, &c, or of preparation for important emphasis ; 
it also denotes listening, and is highly effective in representations of terror, of 
anxious watchfulness, &c. 

rp 



208 EXPRESSION. 

Without attempting to include in our notation the Passions 
generally, — for their variety of shading and admixture would 
render an accurate notation of them far too complex to be of 
service, — there are a few other qualities of Expression, which, as 
they have peculiar functional manifestations, we must add to our 
system of Expressive notation. These are Laughter, (L.) and 
Weeping, ( W. ) and their more subdued forms, Chuckling, (Ch.) 
and Sobbing, (Sob.) to which we may add Joy, (Joy,) and 
Sadness, (Sad.) Panting Respiration, ( Besp.) Audible Inspira- 
tion, ( Insp.) Audible Expiration, (Ex. and Exp.) 

Open Laughter and Weeping come seldom or never within the scope of 
reading, though acting and gesticulated recitation must occasionally employ 
them : we need not point out the situations in which they would be appro- 
priate. A Chuckling effect is expressive of vulgar self-satisfaction, and 
boasting : in a modified degree, it may be generally used in the utterance of 
all triumphal or gratulatory sentiments ; for these we shall use the notation 
Joy. This sort of effect, with waving tones, is used in sneer, ridicule, and 
sarcasm. A Sobbing effect may be quite admissible in expressive reading : 
the degree in which it is employed, and the occasions for its employment, will 
greatly depend upon the temperament of the reader. The notation Sad. (Sadness) 
will express the more modified degrees of grief. Ordinary respiration should 
be silent, equable, and almost imperceptible : perturbation and mental suffering, 
nervous excitement, flurry, exhaustion, &c, may be expressed by convulsed, 
heaving, or Panting Respiration. An Audible, gasping, or semi- vocal 
Inspiration is wildly expressive of despair, and generally of mental or bodily 
agony. Audible Expirations also may be occasionally used for emotional 
expressiveness ; if slowly accompanying the utterance (noted Ex.) they produce 
the effect of sighing, and " suit the action to the word" of sadness ; if sud- 
denly gushing out with the accented syllable or word, (noted Exp.) they have 
the effect of denoting intensity of the feeling in the passage, whether of joy 
or sorrow.* 

* The functions of Laughter and Crying — as the ingenious and deeply- 
observant author of the "Philosophy of the Human Voice," remarks — are 
organically the same : their different effects arising from the chromatic inter- 
vals of the aspirations of sorrow, and the diatonic intervals of those of joy. 
This accounts for the tears of laughter, and for the common and notable 
phenomenon of children crying and laughing " in the same breath." 



EXERCISES. 



299 



RECAPITULATIVE TABLE OF THE MARKS EMPLOYED IN THE 
NOTATION OF INFLEXION, MODULATION, FORCE, TIME, 
AND EXPRESSION. 



Inflexion — 

Refer to pages 
262 ana 269. 



MODULATION- 

Refer to pages 
288 and 290. 



Force — 

Refer to page 



Time— 

Refer to page 
296. 



Simple 



Compound. 



Rise. 
Midd'e ^ .^ 



Tone. 



Fall. 



Rise. 



Fall. 



«•"! .%S-\ 



5 High Key. PROGRESSIVE Elevation is denoted by 

4 -Higher. this mark (f) before the Modulative 

3 Conversational. number: Thus— [3, T2, f4, &e. 

2 Lower. PROGRESSIVE DEPRESSION is denoted by 

1 Low Key. this mark ([) before the Modulative 

number: Thus — [4, [2, |/$, <fcc. 

Elevate Subordinate clause or sentence marked T 



Depress " " " 

Mark of Separation between clauses 

f v. — vehement. 
J e. — energetic. 
-( to. — moderate. 
I /.—feeble. 



Progressive Increase of Force, 
marked Cres. (Crescendo) or «< 

Progressive Diminution of Force, 
marked Dim. (Diminuendo) or » 



.p. — piano. 

r. — rapid. 
q. — quick. 
to. — moderate. 
s. — slow. 



Progressive Acceleration of Time, 
marked Ac. 
Progressive Retardation of Time, 
marked Ret. 



f WA.-Whisper. 

H. — Hoarseness. 

Fafe.-Falsetto. 

Or. — Orotund. 

PI. — Plaintive. 

TV. — Tremor. 
Expression— { Pr.— Prolongation. 
Sudden Break 

L. — Laughter. 

Ch.— Chuckling. 

J. — Joy. 

W. — Weeping. 
I. £o&.-Sobbing. 



Refer to pages 
296-298. 



Hist. — Effect of Distance. 
Str. — Straining, or Effect 

of Strong Effort. 
St. — Staccato. 
Sst. — Sostenuto. 
Sym. — Sympathetic. 
Im. — Imitative. 

Expressive Pause — 
Sad. — Sadness. 
Resp. — Panting Respiration. 
Insp. — Audible Inspiration. 
Ex. \ sighing (Audible. 
Exp.) Sudden (Expiration. 



EXPRESSIVE EXERCISES. 

In the following passages, a very minute notation is attempted, 
to assist the student in cultivating a varied and effective delivery. 
The difficulty of working with types has, however, been fully felt. 
In the first few pages the notation is chiefly confined to Inflexion 
and Modulation : in the subsequent passages the other Expressive 
marks are more generally introduced. Our space forbids 
lengthened illustrations, or very copious examples. 



300 EXERCISES. 

These Exercises will show the ineffective reader something of 
the variety that is demanded by expressive delivery ; and they 
will, we trust, encourage him to apply broadly and confidently, 
in his ordinary practice, the principles which their notation ex- 
emplifies. They are far from being overloaded with notation : 
we can safely affirm that the voice must, in doing justice to the 
delivery of such passages, make more than double the number of 
changes — inflective, modulative, and expressive, — that are here 
marked. 

Industry is the demand of nature, of reason, and of God. 

Among the various blessings which we derive from art, are wealth, commerce, 

honour, liberty, content. 

»'• -*^ 

Complaisance renders a superior amiable, an equal agreeable, and an inferior 

acceptable. 
The astonishing multiplicity of created beings, the wonderful laws of nature, 

the beautiful arrangement of the heavenly bodies, the elegance of the 

~ ^ '•" •". a* 

vegetable world, the operations of animal life, and the amazing harmony 

of the w r hole creation, loudly proclaim the wisdom of the Deity. 

Poverty wants some, luxury many, 3 avarice all things. 

Vapours are formed into clouds, dew, mist, rain, snow, hail and other 

meteors. 

The colours in the rainbow are violet, indigo, blue, green, yellow, orange, red. 

-*^ •^• N *^ *^ *^ *^ *^ '^ 

The earth is adorned with a beautiful variety of mountains, hills, vallies, 
*•'' .~. *^ *^ *^ 

plains, seas, lakes, rivers, trees, flowers, plants, and animals. 

Human society requires distinctions of property, diversity of conditions, sub - 
ordinations of rank, and a multiplicity of occupations, [in order to advance the 
general good. 

No station is so high, no power so great, no character so unblemished, as to 
exempt men from the attacks of rashness, maUce, and envv. 

In the least insect there are muscles, nerves, joints, veins, arteries, and blood. 

A moment's thinking is an hour in words. 



The cloud capp'd towers, the gorgeous palaces, 
The solemn temples, 4 the great globe itself, 



EXERCISES. 301 

4 .^ ^ st ^ 

Yea, all which it inherit, — shall dissolve ; 
3 *" ••*- 

And I like this unsubstantial pageant faded, I 
*^ . *" 

Leave not a rack behind. 

Nothing stifles knowledge more than covering every thing with a doctor's 
robe : and the men who would be for ever teaching are great hindrance t, 
to learning. 

A felicitous image presented to the fancy, a gentle dealing with angry passions, 
an avoidance of collisions with rooted prejudice, may, [without the 
slightest violation of truth or moral rectitude, | open the mind of an 
assembly or a nation to receive Twith honest conviction | a system of 
knowledge, [religious, ethical, or political, which philosophic reasoning, or 
uncompromismg dogmatism, might have striven for ages to force upon 
them, ["and striven in vain. 
The emotions pervade every operation of the mind, as the life-blood circulates 

through the body : within us and without, in the corporeal world and in the 

spiritual, in the past, the present, and the future, there is no object of thought 

•~ ~ *^ -r^ 

which they do not touch ; there are few, | very few | which they do not colour 

and transmute. 

Learning teaches youth temperance ; affords comfort to old age ; gives riches 

to the poor ; and is an ornament to the rich. 
.+/ 

While [beholding this vast expanse, | I learn my own extreme meanness, I 

would also discover the abject littleness of all terrestrial things. 
Error is generally sweetened with truth ["to make men swallow it more readily, 
For all the several gems in Virtue, Vice has counterfeit stones, | with which she 
gulls the ignorant. 

We sail the sea of Life — a calm one finds, 
And one a tempest — and, [the voyage o'er, I 

••s *" »s *" ~ 

Death is the quiet haven of us all. 

The passions are the gales of life ; and it is religion only that can prevent them 
from rising into a tempest. 

How mean that snuff of glory fortune lights 
And death puts out ! 



302 EXERCISES. 

.•n • - *^ ■•*« 

A kind no is otten more agreeable than a rough yes. 

The man who does not know how to methodize his thoughts, has always 

[to borrow a phrase from the dispensary | a barren superfluity of words. 

Above the earth, | around the sky | 

*'«*._■#*.* i 

There's not a form, [or deep, or high, | 

2 e .^ 

Where the Creator hath not trod, 
[And left the foot-prints of a God. 

4 ^ 

What a piece of work is man ! how noble in reason ! how infinite in faculties ! 

&o *^ *" 

in form and moving how express and admirable ! in action, 4 how like 

-5- 3 Or ~ .^ rw '~ 

an angel ! in apprehension, how like a God ! 

Every passion has its proper pulse. 
•*^ ^ 

What eagles are we still 

In matters that belong to other men ! 

2 Or .^ 

— What beetles in our own ! 

[Of all the causes which conspire to blind 

Man's erring judgement, and misguide the mind, j 

4 ••" «^ ••" 

What the weak head with strongest bias rules, 

Is Pride. 

est .^ 

High on a throne of royal state, Twhich far 

Outshone the wealth of Ormus or of Ind, 

Or where the gorgeous East [with richest hand, 

TShow'rs on her kings barbaric, pearl and gold, 

3 »N »S ■•' 

Satan exalted sat. 

4 Ex PI S 

How doth the city sit solitary Tthat was full of people ! how is she become a 
widow ! 

4 * 

What sudden turns, 
What strange vicissitudes in the first leaf 
Of man's sad history ! to-day, most happy ; 
And, [ere tomorrow's sun has set, I most abject ! 

dEx~ 

How scant the space between these vast extremes ! 



EXERCISES. 303 

Sure the last end 

~ ~ A f "^ . • , 

Oi the good man is .peace. How calm his exit ! 

Night-dews fall not more gently to the ground, 

Nor weary worn-out winds expire so solt. 

He that would pass the latter part of his life with honour and decency, must, 

[when he is young, I consider that he shall one day be old, and remember 

*• •• *^ 

I when he is old, I that he has once been young. 
Sloth, Hike rust, I consumes faster than nature wears. Diligence, [like the 

philosopher's stone, | turns every thing to gold. 
[To a lover I the figures, the motions, the words of the beloved object, are not 

1 like other images I written in water, but I as Plutarch said I " enamelled 
in fire," and made the study of midnight. 

The sunniest things throw sternest shade, 
2 -^ ~ 

And there is even a happiness 

That makes the heart afraid. 

Childhood. 
The world of a child's imagination is the creation ot a far holier spell than 

hath been ever wrought I by the pride of learning, or the inspiration of poetic 

4 ^ ~ ^ ^~ 

fancy. Innocence that thinketh no evil; ignorance that apprehendeth none; 

•v ^ • rv ^ ^ e -* 

hope that hath experienced no blight ; love that suspecteth no guile : these are 

... ~ J ~ ~ -^ 

its ministering angels ! these wield a wand of power, making this earth a para- 

5 Ret ft «K ■ •* -~ 

dise ! — Time, hard, rigid teacher ! — Reality, rough, stern reality ! — World, cold, 

Ex * ^ TV ^ 

heartless world t that ever your sad experience, your sombre truths, your killing 

2 H .^^ 

cold, your withering success, could scare those gentle spirits from their holy 

4 .^ 2 .^ ^ 

temple ! And wherewith do ye replace them ? With caution, [that repulses 

confidence, | with doubt, [that repelleth love , | with reason, that dispelleth delu- 

sion ; with fear, ("that poisoneth enjoyment ; in a word, with knowledge, — that 

fatal fruit, the tasting whereof, [at the first onset, | cost us paradise. 

We are prone to look at our troubles Tthrough a magnifying glass, | and at our 

mercies [through a diminishing one. Hence we are so miserable under 

present distress, and so ungrateful for past favours. 



304 EXERCISES. 

Though faith be above reason, yet is there a reason to be given of our faith. 

4 -• *^ »v *^ 

He is a fool that believes he neither knows wl*at nor why. 

3 -^ k ~ 2 

There is ever a certain languor attending the fulness of prosperity. When 

the heart has no more to wish, it yawns over its possessions, and the energy of 

•on ■•" 

the soul goes out, Llike a flame that has no more to devour. 

An inevitable dualism bisects nature, so that each thing is a half, and suggests 

another thing to make it whole ; as spirit, matter ; man, woman ; sub- 



iective, objective ; in, out ; upper, under ; motion, rest ; yea, nay. 

Beneath the foulest mother's curse 
No living thing can thrive ; 



2e 

A mother is a mother still, — 
•"&* •*- 

The holiest thing alive. 

'6 m ^ 

Since trifles make the sum of human things, 

•-, -^ 

[And half our misery from our foibles springs ; 

TSince life's best joys consist in peace and ease, 

And I though but few can serve, yet all may please, 

let the ungentle spirit learn from hence, 

A small unkindness is a great offence ; 

[To spread large bomities, ["though we wish in vain, 

Yet all may shun the guilt of giving pam. 

3m ^ e • ^ I#N 

It glads the eye it warms the soul 

To gaze upon the rugged knoll, 
[Where tangled brushwood twines across 
The struggling brake, and sedgy moss. 
Oh ! who would have the grain spring up 
Where now we find the daisy's cup — 
[Where clumps of dark red heather gleam 
With beauty in the summer beam, 

~ Sym 



And yellow furze-bloom laughs to scorn 
Your ripen'd hopes and bursting corn ? 
God speed the plough ; but let us trace 



EXERCISES. 305 

Something of nature's infant face ; 

3 ^ si 

Let us behold some spot T where man 

Has not yet set his " bar and ban," | 

4 *v •" ,s •*- 

Leave us some green wastes, [fresh and wild, | 

For poor man's beast, and poor man's child. 

.»• »^ -^^ 

Let it be the struggle of the rich man that he may possess his goods — not they 

him. 
Business sweetens pleasure, as labour sweetens rest. 
We are most sure in those points we have most doubted in. 
A wise man knows his own ignorance : a fool thinks he knows everything. 
Better suffer a great evil than do a small one. 

The difference between a madman and a fool is, that the former reasons justly 
from false data, and the latter erroneously from just data. 

'Tis with our judgements as our watches ; — none 
Go just alike, yet each believes his own. 

Mourn rather for the Living Dead, 

•"^ e ^ "^ 

Than for the seeming dead — [Vho Live ! | 
Zst ^ 

These need no tears f our grief can shed, I 

* St Tr 

But those C> far more than we can give ! 

•^ 

* m c-^ fv *-^ £ "»s 3 Ex 

Men will wrangle for religion, write for it, fight for it, die for it — L anything but 

live for it. 
Ministers should preach to their congregations, and not merely before them. 

Knowledge and wisdom, [far from being one, I 
Have oft' times no connexion. Knowledge dwells 
In heads replete with thoughts of other men ; 
Wisdom, in minds attentive to their own. 
Knowledge — [a rude unprofitable mass 
TThe mere materials with which wisdom builds, 

eSt ^ ^ 

[Till smoothed, and squared, and fitted to its place, I 
Does but encumber whom it seems to enrich. 



Qq 



306 EXERCISES. 

Knowledge is proud [that he has learned so much ; 
2 s •" st ^ „~ 

Wisdom is humble that he knows no more. 

3 m ^^ — s ,_ > ^ _>, ^^^ 

The friend Tthat lightly flatters | is an enemy ; the enemy [that justly re- 

proves is a friend. 
»^ 

When people are determined to quarrel, a straw will furnish the occasion. 

£ «. •— 4 -**r 

O, Sir, your O honesty is remarkable. 

Most courteous tyrants ! Romans ! rare patterns of humanity. 

Pr «^ } ~ Exp ~ 

Courageous chief '! the first (7\ in flight from pain ! 

w ^^ 

There is a flower, a little flower, 

[With silver crest and golden eye, 

TThat welcomes every changing hour, 
~ *, ~ 

And weathers every sky. 

On waste and woodland, Irock and plain, 

Its humble buds unheeded rise ; 

The rose has but a summer s reign, 

The daisy ^~> never dies. 

Tell me not of rights — talk not of the property of the planter in his slaves : — 

I deny the right, I acknowledge not the property. The principles, the feelings 

.^ Pr.^ .^ ~ 

of our common nature rise in rebellion against it. 

They are wise and "*"> honourable, 



And will, fno doubt, j with reason answer you 



3 »s -»s »v 

The hypocrite shows the excellence of virtue by the necessity he thinks himself 

under of seeming to be virtuous. 
The weather was so intensely hot "hat we saw only [what was to be admired — 

St ~ »s -^ ~ 

we could not admire. 

»• *s ' • 

The marble peach feels cold and heavy, and children only put it to their 
mouths. 



TO THE NIGHTINGALE. 

Thou wast not bom for death, immortal bird ! 



No hungry generations tread thee down ; 



EXERCISES. 307 

The voice I hear | this passing night, | was heard 
In ancient days, Tby emperor and clown : 

3 S. Ret ^ 

Perhaps the self-same song, [ tnat found a path 

Sym +s ^ 

Through the sad heart of Ruth, I when, Tsick for home, I 

She stood in tears amid the alien corn ; 
The same I that oft-times hath 
Charm'd magic casements, | opening on the foam 

Of perilous seas, in fairy lands forlorn. 

4 Pr .2/ •" ^ •"• 

11 Forlorn !" — The very sound is like a bell 

•*" Ex —- 

["To toll me back from thee to my sole self ! 

Adieu ! — The fancv cannot cheat so well 

As she is fam'd to do, I deceiving elf. 
L 2 ^ L 3/ ^ 

Adieu ! adieu ! O Thy plamtive anthem fades T» — 

Past the near meadows, ^ over the still stream, ^ 

Up the hill-side ; ^"> and now, • 'tis buried deep 

In the next valley's glades : — 

3 ^^ 

Was it a vision, or a waking dream ? 
Fled is that music ! — Do I wake or sleep ? 

3 * 

From their foundations loos'ning too and fro, 
e ^ -= •" > 

They plucked the seated hills — hvith all their load, 

Str 

Rocks, waters, woods ; and [by the shaggy tops 



Uplifting, | bore them in their hands. 



4 .^ ^ 3 Jm 

That strain again ; — it had a dying fall ; 
2Sst^ ~ ^ 

— ! it came o'er my ear '"Mike the sweet south, 

That breathes upon a bank of violets, 

Stealing, and giving odour ! 

The bright sun was extinguished ; and the stars 
Did wander | darkling [in the eternal space, | 
Rayless and Pathless ; and the icy earth 
Swung blind and blackening, in the moonless air. 



M8 EXERCISES. 

2* H^ 4 

" Base as thou art false"—" No!" 

3 ~ ^ ^ 5» ■•„ 

" Art thou not"— 4< k what?"— " a traitor V" 

dm ^ ^ 

Think you a little din can daunt mine ears ? 

4 -#s ~ e 

Have I not in my time heard lions roar ? 

.^ ••" 
Have I not heard the sea, i puffed up with winds, 

e Pr st 

Rage [like an angry boar ? 

Have I not heard great ordnance [in the field, 

• -»s Pr 

And heavens' artillery thunder [in the skies ? 

St 

Have I not, Tin a pitched battle { heard 

Loud 'larums, neighing steeds, and trumpets' clam 

2 ch st 

And do you tell me of a woman's tongue — 
TThat gives not half so great a blow to the ear, 
As will a chesnut in a farmer's fire ? 



See yonder hallowed fane ! the pious work 
Of names once famed, now dubious I or forgot, 
And buried midst the wreck of things which were ; — 
There lie interred the more illustrious dead. 

2 5 lm If. 

The wind is up : O hark ! how it howls ! Methinks 

Till now I never heard a sound so dreary ; 
2 H *" ~ ^ ^ „ 

Doors creak, and windows clap, and night's foul bird, 

~ ~ ~ Pr.^ ~ 

Rooked in the spire, screams loud ; ""> the gloomy aisles 

[Black plastered, and hung round with shreds of scutcheons 

And tattered coats of arms, | send back the sound, 

Laden with heavier airs, from the low vaults, 

The mansions of the dead. 
4? .^ »v ~ . 2 ^ 

Again ! the screech-owl shrieks : [ungracious sound ! 
4 ^ liva ^ *^ 

I'll hear no more ; it makes one's blood run chill. 

Ye living flowers Tthat skirt the eternal frost ! 

Ye wild goats Importing round the eagle's nest ! 

^ *^ Or 
Ye eagles, [playmates of the mountain storm ! 
n ^ 
Ye lightnings, [the dread arrows of the clouds ! 



EXERCISES. 309 



Ye signs and wonders of the elements ! 

• «»s 2 . 4.^ ■*" ^ 

Utter forth o God ! and fill the hills with praise ! 

3 e Sad Pr Tr. 

I tell thee Culloden's dread echoes shall ring 

With the blood-hounds that bark for thy fugitive king ! 

Lo ! [anointed by heaven with vials of wrath | 

4 

Behold where he flies on his desolate path ! 

2 

Now, [in darkness and billows | he sweeps from my sight : 

4 e 5c -^ 

Rise ! rise ! ye wild tempests and cover his flight ! 

l 2 Pr 

& 'Tis finished. Their thunders are husAed on the moors : 

a.sob 

Culloden is lost and my country deplores ! 

3 m 

But where is the iron-bound prisoner?^ where ? 
2 ^ 

For the red-eye of battle is shut [in despair. 

Say mounts he the ocean wave, banished, forlorn, 

[Like a limb | from his country | cast | bleeding and torn ? 

2 H o 

Ah no ! for a darker departure is near ; 
[2 s 

The war-drum is muffled | and black is the bier ; 
Wh 4 y Pi • • ^ 

His death-bell is tolling ! oh mercy ! dispel 

Tr Ex 

Yon sight [that it freezes my spirit to tell ! 

There were no mock mourners [in the trappings of affected woe, — but there 
.^ •* Im 

was one real mourner | who feebly tottered after the corpse. It was ~ the 

aged mother of the deceased. 

4 m 3 

Up with my tent ! Here will I lie to-night ; 

l* -if. Ex ; 
But where to-morrow ? Well, no matter where. 

2 Tr 4 Dist 

Methought I heard a voice cry, u Sleep no more ! 
Macbeth does murder sleep — the innocent sleep — 

m *^ 

Sleep, Tthat knits up the ravell'd sleave of care — 
TThe death of each day's life — rsore labour's bath — 
TBalm of hurt minds — rgreat nature's second course — 
rChief nourisher in life's feast" 

2 s Dist 

Still it cried — " Sleep no more !" [to all the house ; 



;>io EXERCISES. 

9 * . > 

" Glammis hath miirder'd sice]), and therefore Cawdor 

8, St./. Tr 

Shall sleep no more — Macbeth shall sleep no more." 

J H. Tr. 

Eternity ! thou pleasing, dreadful thought ! 

S ^ Tr 

V hen the poor victims were bavonctted, I clinging round the knees of the 

soldiers ! | would my friend but I cannot pursue the strain of interro- 

.+/ 

gation ! 

3. PL S. [4 7V. 

** I have sorely wept for thee — ay ! William, when there was none near me — 

T5 < lnsp > 2 

even as David wept for Absalom — for thee, my son ! my son I" — A long, deep 
groan was the only reply. 

Oh, banish me, my lord, but kill me not ? 

I prythee, daughter, do not make me mad ! 

3 s.p. Tr *^ 

I will not trouble thee ! my child, farewell ! 
St 

"We'll no more meet, no more see one another ! 
Exp ^ ^ 

But yet thou art my flesh, my blood, my daughter, 

4 q.e. .^ 

Or, rather, a disease that's in my flesh — 

Which I must, needs, call mine ! thou art T* a boil — 

A plague-sore — an emboss'd carbuncle, 

»/ 
[In my corrupted blood But I'll not chide thee ; 

St 

Let shame come when it will, I do not call it ; 
Or st 
I do not bid the thunder-bearer strike, 

Nor tell tales of thee to high-judging Jove : 

Mend, when thou canst; be better — |_at thy leisure ! 

4e - -^ v - -^ 

What man dare, I dare. 

T2 q 

Approach thou like the rugged Russian bear, 

The arm'd rhinocerous, or the Hyrcan tiger ; 

4 .^ ^ 2s Or *" 

Take any shape | but that, and my firm nerves 

4 e.q. -^ 

Shall never tremble ; or be alive again, 

st 

And dare me to the desert with thy sword ; 
f4 « 

If trembling I inhibit thee, protest mc 
5 S Tr 

The baby of a girl ! Hence! horrible shadow ! 
[4 5 

Unreal ! mockery ! hence ! hence ! 



EXERCISES. 311 

I live with bread like you ; feel want, taste grief, 

TV ^ •" ~ ~ 

Need friends : Lsubjected thus, | 

|4 Sad ••*> 

How can you say to me I am a king ? 
I'll call thee, Hamlet ! 
King ! Father ! Royal Dane ! oh ! answer me ! 

4 Pl *S 9*. 

You see me here, ye Gods, a poor. old man, 
As full of grief as age, wretched in both ! 

5/ L 4 Tr -^ 

You think I'll weep ; no, I'll not weep : — 

2> Exp 4 e 

I have full cause of weeping ; but this heart 

» < > 

Shall burst into a hundred thousand flaws, 

. .+, Fals 2 Exp 

Or ere I'll weep — Gods, I shall go mad ! 

3Sad 

I had a piece of rich sweet pudding on my fork, when Miss Lousia Friendly 
Tr 9 

begged to trouble me for part of a pigeon that stood near me. In my haste 

4 r Resp 

[scarce knowing what I did, | I whipped the pudding into my mouth — hot as a 

Se 4t> 

burning coal ! it was impossible to conceal my agony ; my eyes were starting 

2 S Tr Exp 

from their sockets ! at last, Tin spite of shame and resolution, | I was obliged 

Exp Ex 

to *•* drop <r> the cause of my torment on my plate. 



CARD. 

The Author receives Pupils and Boarders for the Eradication of 
Stammering and all Impediments or Speech ; and gives Private 
Instructions in Articulation and Delivery, adapted to all departments 
of Public Speaking. 

Prospectuses, Cards of Terms, &c. may be obtained on application at 
13 Hope Street, Charlotte Square, Edinburgh. 



The following Establishments for Elocution and for the Removal of Impediments 
of Speech, are conducted by the Author's Father and Brother : — 

In London — 30 Old Bond Street — by Mr Bell, Sen. 
" Dublin— 33 Lower Abbey Street— by Mr D. C. Bell. 


































































• 



>, 















.0 o 






- 









i 



-^ 






"^ 







































« 















%$ 





















<% 







